Always
by Maloui
Summary: When Wayne Fields dies, Emily's world is turned upside down. After the funeral in Texas, Emily is back in Rosewood and barley leaving her room crying her eyes out. Hanna, Aria and Spencer are desperate because the ran out of options to make their friend feel better. That's when Hanna comes up with an unconventional but possibly working idea. Paige McCullers.
1. Chapter 1

**I was sad when Paige left for California in season 5 so I came here for some Paily-love.** **After reading some stories by siophiefandom and finally finishing season 5, I came up with this idea.**

 **I don't have that much time to write daily on this story so please review and let me know if I should follow up on this :) Chapters may become longer than these 800 words. I just thought this might be a good point to cut. Currently rated T because of adult themes might come up.**

 **Enjoy reading!**

* * *

After Wayne Fields had died last week, Aria, Hanna and Spencer helplessly watched Emily suffer. They had tried it all: Holding her silently while she cried, trying to make her laugh by watching funny cartoons and trying to make her think of something else than her father's death by making a trip or two. Nothing had helped. Emily was still crawling up in her bed every day. She was only leaving it for the necessery things: eating, showering and going to the bathroom in general. After the funeral which took place in Texas where Emily's parents lived, Emily had come home on Friday. Today – Sunday – she was still somewhere between crying her eyes out and sleeping.

Spencer was making tea downstairs while Hanna was sitting at the counter silently. They had basicly moved into Emily's house since she was back. They only had left do pick up grocerys and take out dinner. One of them had always stayed in the house in case Emily would need something.

„What do we do?" Spencer asked. She was desperate.

„I really don't know."

„You always come up with something."

„I don't know, Spence. Maybe Em just needs to figure it out on her own and time passing by."

„We need to do _something…_ I mean look at her. She's suffering. _"_

Spencer handed Hanna a cup of tea. They were silent for a while.

„Maybe…" Hanna stopped right there.

„What?"

„Nothing... it's a bad idea."

We are running out of options here, Hanna." Spencer stated. „Any idea is welcome."

„I just thought… what if we find someone who knows Emily even better than we do?"

Hanna waited a moment for Spencer to figure it out by herself.

„Who?" Then it came to her. „Paige…"

„I told you it's a bad idea."

„What if it's not?" Spencer asked. „It might actually work."

„I don't know, Spence. We need Aria on this." Hanna still wasn't convinced. She picked up her phone from the counter and texted Aria.

 **S.O.S. Need your help at Emily's. -H + S**

Not a minute later Hanna's phone beeped.

 **Be there ASAP -Aria**

„Aria's coming over. We need another opinion on this"

„Right. But I still think, it might work."

Aria opened the back door not long later.

„What's up, guys? How's Em?"

Spencer shook her head no. Emily wasn't better.

„Hanna had an idea." She said and looked at Hanna.

„I was thinking about calling Paige in on this situation."

„I don't know, Hanna. Em was pretty upset when Paige left. Maybe it will make it worse."

„But Paige was always able to get through to her. No matter what had happened and which creepy shit A had pulled of."

Spencer had a point. When Maya had died, Paige was there for her and they had not even been together at that point. Paige had also been able to win her back after she had betrayed Emily's trust by telling the police that Alison was still alive. There was a connection, a bond between Emily and Paige so strong the girls couldn't explain.

„Do you think, Paige would come all the way from California?" Hanna wondered.

„We don't even know what's going on in her life by now." Aria joined Hanna.

„Guys, it's worth a shot. Worst case, she says no."

„Fine." Aria and Hanna said synchronically.

„But you're calling." Aria said and looked at Spencer.

„Why me?"

„'Cause you're the most convincing one."

Spencer smiled. She was and she was kind of proud of that. Even if it meant she was stuck with this task.

When Spencer pulled out her phone, Emily came down the stairs. Her eyes were swollen from all the crying in the past hours and days.

„What's up down here? You're still here."

Spencer made an excuse to leave the room and make the call to Paige.

„Em, you need anything? Tea? A Sandwich?"

„Actually, I could eat something."

Hanna started to prepare some sandwiches for all of them. Aria pured Emily a cup of tea.

„Thanks." Emily sat down at the counter and waited for the sandwich. She wasn't in the mood to talk. Aria looked at Hanna which was gaving her a sad look back.

Meanwhile Spencer was in the backyard dialing Paige's number. Her heart pounded. Maybe this was their last option left. She just needed it to work – for Emily's sake.

She listened to the beep for some seconds and hung up when no-one answered. There were many reasons why Paige would not pick up. Maybe her phone was in silent mode or she forgot her phone when she went out. Or maybe she saw who called and decided to ignore the call. But Spencer wasn't one to give up easyly. She gave it another try.

 _Beep… beep… beep… beep_

Then someone picked up.

„Spencer?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Wow, I'm overwhelmed by all the reviews and followers! Thanks a lot for reading and liking Chapter 1. I'm sorry that it took some time 'till I finished Chapter 2. With work I'm only able to write in the evening.**

 **Also sorry for the mistakes in Chapter 1. Chapter 2 went through auto-correct, but sometime I'm not sure regarding grammar (English is not my first language...)**

 **Have fun reading Chapter 2 and feel free to review! :)**

* * *

"Uh, hi." Spencer murmured.

Paige was silent for a moment because she thought Spencer would say anything further. When she didn't Paige asked "What's up?".

Did anything happen to Emily? But why call her then? Emily and Paige had separated some month ago when Paige's parents had thought Rosewood wasn't a safe place for their daughter to live in anymore. It had been hard at first. She and Emily had just gotten back together by then and it had caught them by surprise. They had been sure that they would have more time before Paige was leaving for college. Paige now remembered their good-bye at the airport and how Emily had begged her not to go. She remembered the tears which had been running down her girlfriend's cheeks. It had nearly killed her to hurt Emily like that, but there had been no way around her leaving. Nick McCullers had made it pretty clear.

Being in California back with her parents was quiet hard to get used to again after Paige had been living on her own in Rosewood for some time. But it was good to have people around her who kept her from thinking of Emily too much. Paige had decided it would be best to rip the band-aid off quickly. She had told Emily that she needed distance between them and Emily had kept her part of the promise to stay away. After Emily had sent her some of her stuff which had been at her place, they had not spoken to each other anymore. It had become easier and easier and soon Paige had started dating again.

Spencer's voice brought Paige to the phone call.

"It's about Emily…" Spencer started to explain but couldn't finish the sentence.

"Is she hurt?" Paige heart began to race. A thousand thoughts ran through her head. Scenarios of Emily getting hurt. A car accident, a robbery… Then she thought about the abduction Emily had go through some month ago. She had called Paige when she had been back home to say that she was okay. Paige had wanted to come to Rosewood immediately but Emily had insisted that she would not. So Paige had stayed away, which she now regretted a lot.

"Not physically." Spencer answered. She had noticed the concern in Paige's voice.

"What is it then?"

"Last week, her dad died by a heart attack."

Paige stomach felt like she had been on a really bad rollercoaster. Although she had only met Wayne Fields a couple of times due to his assignment in Texas, she liked him. She had seen why Emily loved her father so much. It was a feeling Paige herself couldn't really recall having for a long time. Maybe that was why she had seen Wayne as the dad she never had somehow. Paige thought of Emily and what Wayne's death must have done to her. Paige now saw why Spencer was calling without her even having said anything about coming to Rosewood.

"I'll be there as soon as I can. Next flight, I'm on it!" Paige said and hung up.

She didn't even wait for Spencer to say anything else. Every second was precious. Paige opened her closet and threw a small trunk on her bed. From the hangers she pulled some clothes without even bothering what she packed.

"Honey, what are you doing?"

Paige looked up and saw her mom standing in the door case.

"Packing. I need to go to Rosewood."

"What happened?" As if the reason wasn't obvious enough.

"Wayne… Emily's dad died. I need to be there with her." Paige hoped that her mother would be satisfied by that explanation. Paige really needed to get to the airport.

"Honey, I'm sure her friends can take care of her just fine."

"That's the point, mom. They can't. Spencer just called. I'm going." Paige said and made it clear that she wouldn't discuss this any further. She closed her trunk and made an attempt to leave her room.

"You have school tomorrow."

"Then I'll be too sick to go to school for a few days."

Paige's mom looked at her daughter without saying anything for a moment.

"Mom, please." Paige begged. "Remember when Emily was kidnapped some month ago? I didn't went over there and I still regret it. I need to be with her."

Mrs. McCullers nodded. Paige had made up her mind. "Fine. I'll drive you to the airport and call you in sick tomorrow. You have food poisoning."

Paige gave her mother a quick hug and a kiss on her cheek. "Thanks."

* * *

Paige had a window seat on the next flight to Philadelphia. She looked out of the window and thought of the first time she had met Wayne Fields.

 _"_ _Em, I can't…" Paige said._

 _They were in Emily's car in front of their house. They had decided that Emily would pick up Paige so they could enter Emily's house together. Of course, Paige had met Emily's mother Pam and they were getting along pretty well. Because of his Army assignment, Emily's dad had not been around since Paige and Emily were together._

 _"_ _Come on, Paige. It will be fine." Emily said and rubbed Paige's back to calm her down._

 _Paige was afraid of Wayne Fields somehow. She didn't exactly know why. But she remembered her dad's reaction when she came out to her family and maybe that's why she was afraid to go into that house tonight. She was the one who prevented Wayne Fields' daughter to marry a nice man and start a cute little family with one or two grandchildren._

 _"_ _I promise." Emily gave Paige a kiss on the cheek._

 _"_ _Okay… I guess there's no way around it, is it?" Paige got out of the car with her heart pounding as if it was going to jump out of her chest any moment._

 _Emily got out as well and locked the car. Together they walked over to the front door and Emily rang the bell. She could've unlocked it with key but decided that it would be easier for Paige that way. Like this, they would both be guests, which were greeted by the hosts – kind of._

 _The door opened and Pam was standing in the door case smiling._

 _"_ _Hey, you two. Please, come in." Pam stepped aside and Emily went in first. Pam touched Paige's arm and smiled. "Don't be nervous."_

 _Paige followed Emily to the living room where Wayne Fields was putting some plates on the table._

 _"_ _Dad, this is Paige. Paige – my dad." Emily introduced everyone._

 _Paige made a step towards Emily's dad and stretched out her hand. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Fields."_

 _Wayne Fields smiled. "Nonsense. Call me Wayne." He shook Paige's hand and pulled her into a quick hug with his other arm._

 _Paige looked at Emily and smiled shyly. The ice was broken. When the evening went on, Paige felt more and more comfortable around Emily's parents. She was welcome in this family and she never got the feeling from Wayne that she was stealing his daughter and the dream of a traditional little family away from him._

Paige noticed a tear running down her cheek. She wiped it away and tried to get some sleep for the rest of the flight.


	3. Chapter 3

**Today I had some free time so I decided to write Chapter 3.**

 **Thanks again for taking the time to read my story and leave a review. Enjoy and have a happy new year!**

* * *

"She hung up on me." Spencer said when she walked back to the kitchen. She stopped when she saw Emily picking on her sandwich.

"Who hung up on you?" Emily asked.

"Um, Melissa. We were fighting and she just hung up. Can you believe her?" Spencer acted like she was outraged.

"What is it with you two? Why can't you just don't fight?" Emily murmured more to herself than Spencer.

"How are feeling, Em?" Spencer asked in a more gentle voice.

Emily just shrugged and pulled her sandwich up from her plate and let it slide back on it.

"Well, you have to eat." Spencer said and pointed at Emily's sandwich.

"I'm not hungry anymore. I think I just get back to bed." Emily got up.

"Is there anything we can do?" But Emily didn't answer. She just went upstairs silently.

"I can't stand watching her hurting so much." Hanna said.

"Good thing, Paige is coming." Spencer whispered.

"Wait, you just said she hung up on you." Aria mentioned confused.

"Yeah, she did. But only because she couldn't get to the airport fast enough. She texted from the airport that she will land in Philly at 8 pm. I'm going to pick her up."

"Great! So I'm going to ask my mom. Maybe Paige can stay with me. She shouldn't probably stay here, right?"

"Yeah, she better doesn't. It's already risky bringing her in on this without stressing Emily out more. It's better if there is at least some kind of distance." Spencer agreed.

"Fine. So I pick up some groceries and we meet back here later?" Aria suggested.

They all agreed on that plan and Spencer stayed behind at Emily's house while Hanna and Aria went to work.

* * *

It was late and Paige's legs hurt from sitting in that narrow seat on the plane. She picked up her suitcase and went outside. Spencer had texted her where she had parked.

"There you are." Spencer greeted Paige when she opened that door of Spencer's car.

"Hi." Paige got in the car and Spencer started to move the car from the parking lot. Paige was quite nervous. She had not spoken to any of them after she had left – well, except for the brief phone call about 10 hours ago. Spencer could sense that Paige was kind of nervous. Being honest, Spencer was too. This was all kind of strange. Bringing back Emily's ex-girlfriend to make her feel better after her father's death. If she thought about it now, it sounded like a plot for a really really bad movie. Spencer gulped.

"The flight went okay?" Spencer asked because she wanted to make conversation.

"After I was able to get some sleep, it was fine. Thanks for picking me up by the way."

"Least I can do after I baited you her."

"You didn't really bait me, did you?" Paige smiled. "Anyways, I'm glad you called. I didn't know about Wayne otherwise I would have been at the funeral."

"Oh damn, I totally forgot you knew him pretty well yourself."

"Please, it's fine. I didn't mean it like that." Paige said. "If I'm being honest, first thing I was thinking about was Emily as well. It wasn't until I was sitting on the plan that I realized what Wayne's death really meant to myself."

"He was a good man." Spencer said. "I remember when Emily first came out to her parents. She was with Maya back then." Spencer looked over to Paige in order to check if it was okay that she was walking about it. When Paige didn't react, she continued.

"It was a total shock to Em's mother. Mrs. Fields wasn't accepting her daughter's lifestyle and made it really hard for Em to be with Maya. But Mr. Fields, he was understanding. He reasoned with his wife and finally she came around."

"I was really afraid before I met him for the first time. I knew I shouldn't have been when he hugged me and told me to call him Wayne. We grew really close over the years. Dinner at the Fields' house was always nice. Wayne always told some jokes he had picked up in the Army. He sometimes let me help him work on his oldtimer. I guess, Wayne was more a father to me than my own dad is."

Paige felt that she was tearing up again and swallowed. She needed to be strong. That was why she was here – not to build up some kind of crying partnership with Emily.

For the rest of the drive Spencer and Paige were mostly lost in their own thoughts and listened to the radio.

When they got to Rosewood, Paige asked. "So how do we wanna do this?"

"Check my phone, please. Aria said she would text me how the situation at the house is."

Paige took Spencer's phone from her back and read the text from Aria out loud.

 **Em's asleep. Hanna and I are waiting at the house. – Aria**

"So directly to Emily's, okay?" Spencer checked in with Paige. Paige nodded and tried to calm down. Her heart was pounding heavily. She looked at her right hand and noticed it was shaking.

"I'm nervous, too." Spencer admitted."

"Can't say that is helping." Paige laughed in a high pitched voice.

"It's just Hanna, Aria and me tonight. Emily won't get up 'till tomorrow morning. Hanna managed to let her mom to agree that you can stay with her."

"It's probably for the best." Paige agreed and swallowed when she recognized the Fields' house. Spencer parked and the two girls got out of the car. They decided to come through the backdoor in case Emily was downstairs contrary to their expectations. She wasn't.

"Hey guys." Paige greeted Aria and Hanna with a shy smile.

"Paige!" Hanna pulled Paige into a welcoming hug. "How are you?"

"Tired, mostly. And nervous."

"Well, sit. I make you some tea." Hanna offered.

"How was the flight." Aria asked.

"It was okay, I think." Paige answered and sat down. "So how's your plan here?"

"Well, we kind of don't have one. We thought you might figure it out when you get here." Hanna admitted. They hadn't really thought about their plan's realization. They just had been glad that Paige had agreed to come to Rosewood.

Paige nodded and considered her options for a while. "First, thanks for letting me stay with you, Hanna." Paige stopped and took her cup of tea which was handed over by Aria. "I think I will check on Em tonight. Just for a minute. Then I come over to your place and stay for the night. I talk to Emily tomorrow then."

"You're the boss. Do you want us to stay?" Aria asked.

"Do you do night shifts?" Paige asked.

"I'm on duty tonight." Aria explained.

"So I say, you stay and Hanna and Spencer get some rest."

Hanna and Spencer agreed. "I leave you my car. Spencer can drop me off. See you at my place then." The two girls left.

"I stay right here while you check on Emily." Aria said and watched Paige go upstairs.


	4. Chapter 4

**I just watched the first half of season 6 and noticed that it doesn't really add up with the timeline of my story since in season 6 Wayne Fields died in the time jump when the girls were in college. So consider for this story that Wayne died some time after Emily was kept in the dollhouse and before the girls graduated.**

 **Thanks!**

 **PS: This is a shorter chapter again because I don't know if I will be able to write much before next week-end and I don't want to keep you waiting for too long.**

* * *

Paige slowly opened the door to Emily's room. Paige's heart jumped when she saw her ex-girlfriend fast asleep in her bed. She hadn't seen Emily since their good-byes at the airport when she left for California. So many feelings rushed into Paige's mind when she entered the room she had spent so many hours in. Hours of happiness, sadness and anger. She looked at the window seat she and Emily had made a lot of memories in – good and bad.

Emily's room looked messy – at least what Paige saw from the dim light which was coming from the hall. There were clothes cluttered on the floor and Emily had not bothered to put the used tissues into the trash instead of just throwing them on the floor.

Emily instead looked peaceful. Nothing indicated the pain she was in. Nothing except for two details Paige noticed. First, she could make out the army jacket which Emily was wearing. Paige could see the name patch on the left side of the jacket, "Fields". It was one of Wayne's which he always had kept in the attic. Emily wanted to be close to her father.

The other detail wasn't as easy to spot as the jacket. On the night stand next to Emily's bed was a picture of Pam and Wayne which Emily usually had kept on the cupboard next to the door. It was a black and white picture. Pam's head rested on Wayne's chest while he was holding his wife close and kissed her hair. Paige had always liked that picture when she had been in Emily's room. There was something peaceful about it and Paige knew exactly why. She had always admired the Fields because of the love they shared. The love between Pam and Wayne which was so strong it survived everything negative in their lives. The love that never had went away although they had spent so much time apart from each other. The love Pam and Wayne had passed on to their daughter. That precious love was captured in that black and white photograph on Emily's night stand. She got why Emily liked it so much and wanted it close to her. Paige smiled. There had been a time when she had thought that she and Emily would be able to have that kind of love. Paige took a deep breath to put that thought aside.

Paige silently went over to the bed. She didn't want to wake Emily up. She knew how hard it was to get some sleep when your head is spinning. She herself had had a lot of sleepless nights in her live and she remembered how good it had been to finally catch at least a few hours of sleep. Paige didn't want to take that from Emily. Paige sat down on the end of the bed and watched Emily sleep for a while. She couldn't resist smiling. Despite the reason she was here, it felt good to see Emily again. It was now when she noticed how much she had missed the other girl's company.

Paige got up and pulled the blanket around Emily's body to prevent her from getting cold at night. She extended her arm to run her hand over Emily's hair but Paige stopped herself. It was inappropriate, she thought. Emily wasn't her girlfriend anymore and Paige was not supposed to get too close.

Paige took a look at the picture before she left the room.

 _I'm gonna take care of your little girl, Wayne._ Paige promised when she left.

She found Aria on the couch in the living-room reading. Aria looked up when Paige entered the room.

"How is she?" Arai asked.

"Fast asleep, gladly." Paige answered and sat down on the armchair next to the couch.

"She needs to rest. She isn't sleeping much."

"Wayne was very special to her." Paige stated.

Aria nodded. "Emily was devastated when she got the news. We were at the Brew and Pam called. Emily just broke down and cried for hours. We brought her home but there was not much we could do after that. We all booked flights to Texas to be there for Em and her mom."

"That was nice of you." Paige acknowledged.

"After the funeral it just went worse. I guess she realized that her father was really gone." Aria wiped a tear away. "The service though was beautiful."

"He deserved that…" Paige said barely noticeable.

They were silent for a moment.

"Well, I better get to Hanna's." Paige said and got up from the armchair. "You okay here?"

"Yep."

"Call me if anything happens."

"I will."

"Good night then."

"Good night."

* * *

Ashley Marin opened the door when Paige rang the bell. For a moment she had wondered if it already was too late to ring the bell but she had decided that the Marin's would've waited up before Paige came.

"Hello, Paige. Come in."

"Hello Mrs. Marin. I hope I didn't wake anybody."

"No, it's fine. Hanna's upstairs in her room and I was reading a book in the living-room."

"Good…" Paige was uncertain what do to. She never had really met Hanna's mom and Paige wasn't one who was good in the art of small talk. "Uhm, thanks for letting me stay."

"You're welcome. I hope you can help Emily. The girls are really worried."

"I will try my best." _I promised to Wayne, she thought._

"You want me to make you something to eat?"

"I'm fine thanks. I guess, I will just go upstairs to Hanna's room. Thanks again."


	5. Chapter 5

**I kind of had a run with this chapter once I had started. Special thanks to _subway20_ for the support in finding the right ways to do this.**

 **Also thanks to my new followers! Have fun reading!**

* * *

Paige and Hanna picked up coffees from the Brew for Aria and Spencer on their way over to Emily's. Aria had texted that Emily was still asleep so there was time to figure out a strategy for today's plan. Paige was nervous about how Emily would react. They had not exactly left on bad terms but they hadn't stayed in touch either. Plus, Emily was mourning her father which made her emotionally troubled. Seeing Paige could bring up the pain of their break-up which wasn't exactly the goal here. Paige was here to comfort her ex-girlfriend.

"So how's this supposed to run down?" Paige asked the others who were sitting in the kitchen with her. "Are you going to announce me? Am I just going up there and say "Hello, here am I"? Are we waiting 'til she comes down and just sees me sitting here with you guys?"

"Paige? What…?"

The girls turned around and saw Emily standing in the door case. She still had her PJs on but had combed her hair before coming down. Her eyes were still red from the crying and she looked tired although she had been sleeping for the last hours.

The girls were silent and in shock. So much for figuring out a way to do this.

"Emily…" Paige was the first of them to get her voice back. She stood up and walked a step towards Emily.

"What is this?" Emily asked furiously and pointed at all of them with her finger. It was the first real emotion she felt besides being sad all the time.

"Some kind of pact to cheer Emily up because you ran out of options? Guess what, my dad died. Maybe I don't want to be cheered up. Have to you thought about that?"

"Em, let me explain." Hanna began. She thought it was her turn since she had been the one who had come up with this very stupid idea.

"No, Hanna. Don't. I just want you to leave. All of you." Emily looked at all of them one after another but avoided Paige's gaze. She couldn't even look at her ex-girlfriend. Then she went upstairs.

The girls looked at each other. Speechless.

"Well, that went great." Spencer said sarcastically.

"What now?" Hanna asked.

"Do we just leave?" Aria wondered.

Paige took a deep breath. She could just leave. Yeah, it couldn't have gone worse but now this whole question of how to encounter Emily was solved. Paige was certain that it could not get worse after this. Worst case, she would pack up her things at Hanna's and leave but she was far from considering it as a serious option. This was just a bump in the road.

"I'll take care of it." Paige stepped up and could see the relief in the other girl's eyes.

* * *

Emily was sitting in her window seat crying – again. But this time the tears were not meant for her dead father. Emily couldn't believe what she just saw downstairs in her kitchen. Her friends with her ex-girlfriend, all chatting up about some kind of pact they must have made earlier. How could they betray her like that? As if this whole situation wasn't bad enough without Paige being here. She didn't need to be reminded of their break up on top of that. The wounds had healed slowly but before Wayne's death, Emily had thought she was over Paige. That had been why she had not wanted Paige to come to Rosewood after the dollhouse incident and let the wounds be cut open again. That was why she had not called Paige when her father had died. She had known that Paige would have come to the funeral. Emily herself had not wanted that. And she didn't want Paige to be here now.

Paige softly knocked at Emily's door. When Emily didn't answer she asked "Emily?" and opened the door enough to be able to look into the room. Paige found Emily in her window seat looking outside.

"Em? Can I come in please?"

"Go, just go." Emily said without turning to Paige. "Same goes for Aria, Spencer and Hanna."

Paige was silent for a moment and considered her options. She could just insist on Emily talking to her. Make her listen to what she had to say although she didn't really know what she had to say. She was sorry of cause. Sorry about Wayne and sorry about how it all went down. She wasn't sorry about being here though. But what should she say besides that? Paige didn't know. She had never been one to find words easily.

Or she could just leave and let Emily calm down. Maybe she would come back tomorrow and try again. She had dealt with angry Emily before but back then they had been girlfriends. It was always easier to deal with someone who's mad at you if you're close. Well now, they weren't exactly close anymore. So Paige had only words to calm Emily down and she knew that her ex-girlfriend wasn't open to hear any of it right now.

"Okay, but I'm staying at Hanna's if you want to reach me." There was no harm in telling her. Emily already knew that they all were in on this together. "Don't hesitate to call."

Emily said nothing further so Paige left and closed the door. Downstairs the other girls were waiting.

"She's really mad at us." Paige sighed.

"So we're all leaving?"

"Maybe it's for the best." Spencer agreed.

"You wanna grab a coffee at The Brew?" Hanna suggested and the girls agreed.

* * *

"I admit it. It was a stupid idea." Hanna said. The four girls sat in a both in the back of the Brew

"Don't say that. It's not too late." Paige said. _Or maybe it was…_

"If it's not too late, how do we come back from this fiasco?" Spencer asked.

"Em needs to calm down. It was a shock to see me in her house. To see me with you guys. She must feel betrayed by you but she will come around eventually. She will see that you guys had the best in mind."

"Yeah, maybe." Hanna was skeptical.

"I will be able to get through to her. She just needs to get over this shock. I'm sure."

"If I only had your optimism." Aria said thoughtfully.

"Have you heard from Pam?" Paige asked.

"No, we saw her at the funeral of course and again before we left Texas. Nothing after that. Em said that she wanted to stay in Texas because her husband is buried there." Spencer explained.

"Why didn't they burry him here?" Paige asked.

"Em just said something about the Army. I didn't quite understand." Aria said.

"It's sad that Emily can visit her father's grave. I'm sure it would help her to heal."

"I thought about calling Pam, you know?" Paige said lost in thought.

"I'm sure she would appreciate it. You two got along well, didn't you?"

"We did. I liked having diner over at their place. Sometimes Pam and I cooked for Emily – and Wayne of course when he was in Rosewood. I always felt welcomed in their house. They always were so kind to me. I felt like part of that family."

The girls were silent for a moment.

"I think you should call her sometime." Hanna assured.

The girl kept talking about their stories with the Fields and especially with Wayne for some before they left for The Grille to eat.


	6. Chapter 6

Emily slept on and off that night. She mostly tossed and turned while thinking about Paige. Although Emily would never admit it, she had kind of liked seeing her ex-girlfriend. Those hazel eyes she had fallen in love with such a long time ago. The auburn hair which she had stroked behind her girlfriend's ear right before kissing her passionately uncountable times. Emily's stomach jumped even thinking of those moments. _God, I miss her,_ Emily thought _._ At the same time she was still mad at Paige for coming here without thinking about Emily's feelings. Had Paige even tried to imagine what seeing her again might do to her ex-girlfriend? Obviously not. But then again, it was kind of cute that she had jumped on the next plane to take care of her although they were not together anymore.

Not far away, Paige was lying awake in the Marins' guestroom staring at the ceiling. Paige had not really expected Emily to be happy to see her but the reaction she got from her today had hurt. Yes, they had separated when Paige had left Rosewood but Paige had believed that it had been on good terms. They had been happy after getting back together just a few weeks before her departure. They still would be if she had not left and that exactly was the point. Paige had broken Emily's heart after Emily had let herself open up to Paige again. Being here reminded her of that and increased the pain she was already in. _Maybe I should just leave_ , Paige thought. She tossed it away quickly. She wouldn't bail only because they had a slight set back today. _Emily will come around_ , Paige made herself think over and over again.

* * *

"Have you slept at all, McCullers? You look terrible." Hanna said when Paige came down to the kitchen which was filled with the smell of fresh coffee.

"Good morning to you, too."

"Oh come on. Don't be grumpy." Hanna said and handed Paige a cup of coffee. "Drink this. It'll help."

"How come you in such a good mood?"

"Guess I got my optimism back."

"Can I have some of it?" Paige asked. "Last night, I thought about leaving…"

"No!" Hanna said out loud.

"Relax, I won't. But it hurt to see her like that, you know?"

Hanna nodded.

"To know that I'm partly responsible because I came here – behind her back. I'm making it worse, Hanna."

"Maybe but then, you will make it better. Emily still likes you, you know. Maybe not like some month ago. But you'll always have a place in her heart, Paige."

Paige couldn't help herself and smiled. She liked the sound of that. She still cared about Emily as well, deeply.

"Are you coming over to Emily's house with me?" Paige asked.

"I think, it's better if we're not hanging around in her kitchen together while you're with her. It may send the wrong signal. Like she's up against us four. On top of that, there's still school. Yikes."

"Yeah, you're right. Good thinking." Paige complimented Hanna.

"I talked to Aria and Spencer. We'll be at The Brew after school. So if you need anything…"

"Thanks." Paige petted Hanna's arm and got up. "I better get over there."

"Alright, so see you later?"

"See you later."

* * *

"Mom?" Emily answered her ringing phone.

"Hey, Emmy." It was Pam. Her dad used to call her _Emmy_.

"Is everything okay?" Emily was wondering why her mother called this early.

"I just wanted to her your voice, honey. I guess, I felt lonely."

"I'm so sorry, mom. You can always come here. I'm lonely, too."

"What about your friends?" Pam asked.

 _Friends,_ Emily thought.

She was silent for a moment too long. Pam was worried about her daughter. "Emily? Is everything okay in Rosewood?"

"Yah, everything is fine." Emily tried to be as convincing as she could be.

"Honey, I know when you're lying."

"Fine. I sent them home yesterday."

"And why is that?"

"Actually, I sent my friends and _Paige_ home. Can you believe it? Paige, in my kitchen."

There was a knock on the door.

"Emily?"

"Mom. I gotta go. I'll call you back." Emily said and hung up the phone. And then "Come in."

Emily looked at the door and saw Paige coming into her room. Her heart started to pound. _Why?_

"Hi." Paige said shyly, not knowing what to expect after yesterday's emotional outburst.

"Hi." Emily responded.

"Listen…" Paige began but couldn't finish.

"Please, let me first." Emily begged and continues when Paige indeed let her go first. "I'm sorry about snapping at you yesterday. I was out of line and that wasn't fair to you." Emily considered adding an excuse but this wasn't about _why_ she had snapped at Paige. This was about that she had done it at all.

"Em…" When she realized that she should not use Emily's nickname, she changed her words "Emily. I get it. It must've felt like the ultimate betrayal and I'm sorry for that. I asked for space and now here I am. I'm sorry for jumping on a plan as fast as I could without thinking about how you might feel about seeing me – in your house… with your friends." Paige swallowed and closed her eyes for a second before saying the next words. "And I'm sorry about Wayne." Paige looked at her feet, trying to keep the tears inside.

"Thanks." Emily whispered barely noticeable. She wasn't looking at Paige anymore.

"If you still want me leave, I'll be gone by the evening." Paige offered and looked at Emily. "I promise."

"No…" Emily didn't look at Paige. She still couldn't. "Don't leave." _There, I said it. I don't know why, but I don't want you to leave._

Paige nodded. "You know where I'm staying. I'll be there if you need anything."

Paige turned around in order to leave the room. She had said what she wanted to say. The rest was up to Emily. She wouldn't pressure her.

"I could make us some coffee." Paige heard Emily say behind her. She couldn't help but smile a little.

* * *

 **Author's note: I will be on vacation for a few days so I won't be able to update 'til next weekend.**

 **Again, thanks for reading and leave a review if you like!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Thanks for being patient. I'm back home for a few days now and just finished Chapter 7.**

 **And thanks to all reviewers and followers! :)**

* * *

Paige offered to make some pancakes which Emily accepted gladly. She hadn't eaten since yesterday's sandwich. She really needed to get her days straight again. This wasn't healthy at all. While Paige was making breakfast, Emily stepped outside to call back her mom. She knew that Pam would start to worry if she wouldn't call soon. Pam was very protective since Wayne had passed away.

"Emmy?" Emily could hear the relief in Pam's voice.

"Hi, Mom. Sorry I hung up on you earlier."

"Is everything okay?" Pam sounded worried. "You said something about Paige being with you. Is she still there?"

After Pam had lost her husband, she cared about her daughter even more – if that was possible. She would never let anything happen to her. Not physically, not emotionally. Emily was going through enough right now. Pam had seen how hurt Emily was after Paige had gone to California to live with her parents. Pam didn't want to see her daughter like that again.

"Paige came here yesterday. When I came downstairs in the morning she was in the kitchen with Aria, Spencer and Hanna. One of them must've called her so she jumped on the next plane and got here." Emily explained to her mother.

"That's kind of lovely, don't you think?" Pam had to admit that she was moved by Paige's gesture. "Are you okay with her being there with you in Rosewood?"

"Honestly, I don't know, Mom." Emily admitted. There was no point in lying to her mom. She would see right through it. "I was shocked yesterday because it was so unexpected to see her. Today, I don't know. She came by and apologized for intruding. She asked me if I wanted her to leave."

"Do you?" Pam asked although she already knew the answer. Emily was already hooked on Paige again. Maybe her daughter didn't know yet, but Pam did. Much to her concern.

"She's making me pancakes right now." Emily admitted. Pam sighed.

"Just be careful, okay? I don't want you to get hurt again, Honey."

"I know... I kind of like having her here although it feels strange. I don't even know what to talk about. Geez, I don't know what think. But there is definitely nothing going on between us anymore. We're done and that's fine."

"Just be careful, Emmy." Pam said again. "And call me if you need to talk."

"I promise."

"I love you."

"I love you too, Mom." Emily said and hung up. Before she walked back to the kitchen she took a deep breath. Paige was actually in her kitchen making breakfast. And she was here just because of Emily. _What the hell is happening here?_ It was too much for Emily to take in at once. She just knew one important thing: _I need to keep my distance_. It was nice to see Paige again. She still cared about her and they shared some very good memories. But that's what it was. Memories. Nothing more. There was no way Emily would go down that road again and get her heart broken once more.

When Emily came back to the kitchen she saw Paige flying around the kitchen. Paige still knew her way around Emily's kitchen. Emily had to smile. Paige had always be the one who had made breakfast for the two of them. Paige was an early-bird and there had been many times she had served Emily coffee in bed. Thinking about it, Emily noticed that she missed this little ritual. Quickly, she tossed the thought away.

Paige turned around and saw Emily. "Hey, pancakes are ready. I left the coffee making for you since you had been the one who made the offer." Paige knew it was important that Emily had her part in this. Emily didn't need to be patronized and Paige thought that was what the others had not understood completely. Emily needed a shoulder to lean on while having the freedom to be alone and mourn by herself when she wanted to.

"Then I better get to it, right? While the pancakes are still warm."

Paige nodded and gave Emily some space. She should not feel uncomfortable because she had to be closer to Paige than necessary.

"You still like the blue one?" Emily asked without looking at Paige. She was taking out two cups and filled the empty water tank of her Nespresso coffee maker.

Paige smiled. "I do."

So Emily took out one of the blue Nespresso capsules and made Paige her cup of coffee.

"And let me guess, you still drink in black?"

"Right again." Paige still smiled over the fact that Emily remembered how Paige drank her coffee.

Emily handed Paige her cup of coffee. Paige took care that their hands wouldn't touch. Emily then made herself a cup and sat down across from Paige. They sat there silently for a while because each of the two girls didn't know what to say.

"So, how have you been?" Emily asked and looked at Paige.

"Okay, I guess. After I settled in." Paige looked down. "It was difficult at first. I didn't know anyone except for my parents. In school I was "the new girl" and you know how that works. People are looking at you. You don't know which table you can sit at during lunch break. Things like that. But graduation is only a few weeks away, so I guess, it'll be fine."

"But I'm sure they came around quickly, right? You are very likeable." Emily said and looked down at her plate.

"Thanks." Paige said shyly. "Getting into the swim team helped a little. I made some friends there." _And one or two one-night-stands._

"You're still swimming?" Emily asked.

"Not as successful as here in Rosewood but I still do, yes. That's what is important, right?" Paige remembered that Emily once had told her that she only swam for fun and not because she wanted to win any prices. It always had been the difference between the two of them. Paige needed to win. For Emily it came as welcomed a side effect of doing what made her happy.

Emily remembered as well. One night Paige had stood in front of her front door, soaking wet and terrified. She had said that she hated herself and apologized for her previous behavior and then drove away in the rain before Emily could say anything further. Emily at that time had not been able to understand. Paige had been in a bike accident that night which had let to Emily being anchor in the next day's competition. Before her turn in the race Emily had seen Paige in the audience. Part of her was certain that seeing Paige there had made her win the race. Afterwards Emily had found Paige alone at the pool, devastated and ready to quit swimming.

Emily smiled. It had been a change in their relationship. They had overcome their feud. Not much later Paige had kissed her for the first time. _Don't think about her that way. Don't go there._

"You're smiling." Paige noted, smiling herself. "What were you thinking about."

"Nothing." _I can't tell her._

"Come on. Humor me." Paige begged.

"Fine…" Emily gave in. She had never been good at saying No to her. "Remember when we swam together?" Emily noticed that her question wasn't really precise. Emily and Paige had swam together uncountable times.

"I do." Paige nodded. "You really helped me that day. I was very close to quit swimming back then."

"Look where you are now. Ready to go to Stanford with a full scholarship." Emily laid her hand on Paige's arm. When she realized what she had done she quickly pulled her hand away. "Sorry."

Paige smiled and looked at Emily "It's okay. So what about you? What have you been up to since... you know…"

Emily almost couldn't remember the weeks before her father's death. Much had happened and her mind was clouded with unbearable sadness. The time before Wayne's death was like one gray mist. She noticed she had been silent for a moment to long when she heard Paige say "You don't have to answer."

"No, no. It's alright. It just seems so far away, like it all happened such a long time ago. But it has been only a week."

"Well, a week before my dad died, I got an acceptance letter." Emily began.

Paige's face lightened up. _I knew she could do it. Even without swimming._ "Which college is it?"

"Pepperdine." Emily answered briefly.

"Hey, Em-ily." Paige quickly corrected herself. "That's great! Congratulations! I'm happy for you."

"Thanks. But I don't know if I'm going." Emily had been happy when the letter had arrived. _I'm going to college!,_ she had thought. There had been many doubts but that acceptance letter had swept them all away. Emily remembered her father's face when she had told him via skype. Wayne had been proud. Prouder than he never had been before.

Emily noticed that she was tearing up too late. Tears were already falling. It was too late to pull herself together. Too late to keep Paige from seeing.

Paige's heart was heavy, her chest tight. It was hard to see Emily so broken. _Damn it, McCullers. Just do something._ Paige stood up and walked around the table. Paige hesitated for a second. _Should I really do it?_

Then Paige wrapped her arms around Emily who was still sitting at the table. She laid her hand on Emily's head and pulled her close gently. Emily instinctively threw her arms around Paige and felt herself relaxing a bit.


	8. Chapter 8

**Thanks to all of you who reviewed the last chapter. I'm wondering how slow or fast I should proceed with this. Maybe you can let me know what you would prefere?**

* * *

Paige had tucked Emily into a blanket on the sofa. Eventually Emily had calmed down after a while and had lain down. Paige had pulled a blanket over Emily's body so she wouldn't get cold. Afterwards Paige started to clean the kitchen. She needed to do something. She was pretty confused after she had pulled in Emily for a comforting embrace. Well known emotions had rushed into her mind and body. A warmth she had missed without even knowing it. Paige had always felt a special bond between her and Emily when she took care of her girlfriend. Except Emily wasn't her girlfriend anymore. That fact made her feel guilty. Was she allowed to feel all that former emotions? Especially when Emily was in a really bad place in her life right now? And what exactly was she feeling? Maybe she only _remembered_ how she used to feel instead if still _feeling_ it.

Paige sat down on the edge of sofa next to Emily. Emily looked fast asleep and Paige wondered how she could have fallen asleep while Paige was making noise in the kitchen. Emily had always been able to fall asleep despite of everything even slightly disturbing around her.

"I'm sorry, Emily." Paige said quietly although she knew Emily wouldn't hear it.

"For what?" Emily asked with a sleepy voice and turned her head to face Paige.

Paige's heart started to race. She had apologized more to herself than Emily but there was no turning back now. Every excuse she came up with was as good - or bad - as the truth itself.

"Touching you." Paige whispered shyly and looked at her lap. She still felt guilty for feeling comfortable while she had hold Emily close.

"Don't be silly." Emily sat up to make some space for Paige on the sofa. Paige leaned back, still focusing on her hands which lay in her lap.

Emily put her hand on Paige's knee to make sure she listened to what she was about to say. Paige looked at Emily.

"It's only going to be awkward if we let it, okay?" Emily smiled. "You holding me earlier, I really needed that, Paige. You did nothing wrong." It was kind of cute that Paige considering her feelings. Emily had always felt safe in Paige's arms. Whatever bad had happened, in Paige's arms she had been able to forget. Emily had missed feeling that way. She couldn't deny that.

Emily saw Paige's lips forming a smile. "Okay." Paige said. "You should know, I care about you. So I'll be here for you, whatever you'll need." She let her hand rest on Emily's. Emily remembered the day Paige had said the exact same words to her years ago. Paige had taken care of her after Maya had died. Emily was sure that Paige would take care of her now.

"I'm sorry, Paige." Emily apologized and when she saw the confused look on Paige's face she added "For yesterday. I feel bad for snapping at you. It wasn't fair and yet, you're here breaking me breakfast. I don't deserve you."

"Forget about it." Paige smiled. "Can I get you anything?"

Emily was thinking for a moment. She had enjoyed breakfast with Paige but Emily thought she needed some time to reflect. Emily wondered if she could tell Paige. On the one hand she didn't want to be affronting after Paige being so caring this morning. But on the other hand Paige and Emily had always been able to tell each other their needs.

"Tell me." Paige said with a wink. She had seen on Emily's face that she was struggling.

"I really liked having breaking with you…" Emily began.

"But you want to be alone for a bit." Paige finished.

"I always wondered how you were able to ready my mind." Emily joked.

"Well, I won't give away my secret." Paige laughed.

"You're not mad?"

"Why would I? I'm here to make you feel better and if being alone is what you need right now, then I'll out the door in a few minutes."

"You're too good to me. Will I see you for diner?" Emily really wanted to spend some time with Paige. There was a lot to catch up on and breakfast had ended abruptly with her little emotional breakdown. Emily wanted to see if it was really possible to hang out with Paige without thing getting awkward.

"If you want to. I can come back later and pick up some take away on the way. Just text me what you're hungry for. You still have my number right?"

"I do." Emily affirmed.

"Great, so I'll be back at 7?"

"7 it is!" Emily agreed.

"So, I better get going then. I'll see you later." Paige got up and kissed Emily's hair firmly. Paige hadn't really thought about it until it was too late. She just hoped Emily wouldn't mind and things wouldn't get emotionally troubled.

* * *

20 minutes later Paige took her coffee and walked to a table in the back of The Brew where Spencer and Hanna were sitting. Paige had texted Hanna after she had left Emily's to check if the girls were still at The Brew.

"Paigey!" Hanna greeted her loudly.

"Hey guys!" Paige pulled over a chair from another table and sat down. "Where's Aria?"

"Something came up with Ezra. She made me promise to text her later." Spencer explained.

"So…?" Hanna asked staring at Paige full of expectation.

"So what?" Paige decided to keep them waiting for a moment. She knew the others were dying to know how things went at Emily's.

"Oh, come on, McCullers." Spencer said. "You're killing us and you know it."

"Okay, okay." Paige pulled up her hands in surrender. "I had a nice morning at Emily's."

"Details. We need details!" Hanna shouted impatiently and a bit too loud. "Sorry."

"Calm down, Han. I'm getting there." Paige said and took a sip of her coffee. "So when I went into Emily's bedroom, I heard her talking to her mother. I think Pam isn't a fan of me being here."

"Did you call her yet?" Hanna asked.

"No but I really should, right?" Paige asked and looked at Spencer. She hoped for a reasonable and well thought of answer. Spencer was always good for that.

"I get that Mrs. Fields isn't so fond of you staying in Rosewood and being around her daughter in the given situation. I would be worried too. You're quiet the heart-breaker, McCullers." Spencer looked at Paige. When Paige didn't laugh, Spencer went on "Seriously, she's maybe just worried that Emily's getting hurt again – by you. Emily is really vulnerable right now and what she doesn't need on top of everything is falling in love with you again."

Paige nodded without looking at Spencer.

"In fact, that's what we thought as well before we called you. So you can't blame Mrs. Fields."

"I don't blame her. I'll call her later." Paige said.

"So? What happened next?" Hanna asked impatiently.

"So Em apologized for yesterday and I asked her if she wanted me to leave. She didn't and offered coffee instead. I accepted gladly and made her pancakes in return."

"How did breakfast go?" Spencer asked.

"We talked a little. Basically I talked and she listened. When I asked her about college, she had a little breakdown…"

"You know you're here to make her feel _better_ – not worse, right?" Hanna interrupted.

"I know, I know and it's fine. I comforted her in my arms for a while and tucked her into a blanket on the sofa before I left." Paige explained.

"Wait, what?" Hanna asked. She saw the confused look on Paige's face and added "You were that close two each other and it's fine?"

"Come on, it's not that we kissed or something like that. I just hugged her. That's it."

"What's that look on your face, Paigey? Do you want to kiss her?"

"No, Hanna. I don't feel about her that way anymore. I don't think Rachel would approve if I did."

"Rachel? You have a girlfriend?"

"Rachel is the girl I'm seeing but we haven't had that talk yet." _Rachel. I should've called her._ Paige had been so busy jumping on a plan to Philadelphia and getting things right with Emily that she had totally forgotten to call Rachel. _Significant for not meant to be, isn't it?_

Hanna was quiet.

"What?" Paige asked. Hanna never was quiet like that.

"Nothing."

"Spill it."

"You're seeing this girl and you just jump on a plan to comfort you ex-girlfriend. Just sayin'"

"I get it, Han." Paige rolled her eyes. She definitely needed to think about that. Being back with Emily although it was nothing like before made her question certain things in her life. She would do that if time was right.

"When are you seeing Emily again?" Spencer, who had listened carefully to the conversation before, asked.

Paige knew that answering truthfully would raise more questions but Hanna would see right through every lie she could possibly tell.

"Tonight. For diner and a movie or so." Paige avoided looking at Hanna and looked at Spencer instead who had a worried look on her face.

"Do you think that's good idea?" She asked.

"Emily wanted me to come over and she needs to eat, right?" Paige reasoned. "So I'm just fulfilling my duty. Which - by the way - you assigned to me."

Hanna and Spencer held up their hands.

"Just be careful."


	9. Chapter 9

**Sorry that I kept you waiting but work had been cruel in the last days.**

 **I was planning on skipping the phone call between Paige to Pam but since WaitingForLightning was looking forward to it, I decided to go for it. Let me know what you think.**

 **Subway20, this one is a bit longer ;) Hope you enjoy it!**

* * *

Paige was wandering in the streets of Rosewood. She needed to think. Today's events had been somehow overwhelming although nothing much had happened. She was replaying the time at Emily's in her head. After Emily's apology – which she was truly grateful for – things had become more complicated. Maybe not for Emily but for Paige herself.

Paige had enjoyed breakfast and everything that came with it. Her making pancakes like she had done uncountable times in their relationship while Emily had still been in bed or in the shower or the feeling she had gotten from Emily remembering Paige's coffee preference. Paige smiled like she had done this morning in Emily's kitchen. It was cute that Emily still had those memories about her and their past. But those memories were also dangerous. Paige was falling into old patterns of both acting and feeling. It was a risky path to take if she wanted to keep things easy with Emily. But was that what she really wanted? She didn't know anymore. Two days in Rosewood and she was already deep in an emotional chaos.

Where there any feeling for Emily left or was it just remembering the good old times and the feelings that came with it? Did she even still love Emily? Who knew… all she did know was that she wasn't as done with her ex-girlfriend as she had thought to be.

And of course there was Rachel. Rachel wasn't her girlfriend. They had been on a few dates and Paige thought that they really had hit it off. Being with Rachel was easy because Paige could be herself around her. Something she had not had since Emily. It was easy and liberating talking to Rachel about everything that came to her mind. Rachel knew how to make her laugh. That was what Paige liked the most about her. Although Paige thought that Rachel was feeling similarly, they hadn't had the talk yet. If it weren't for Emily Paige would probably say yes right away. But Emily made her think things over. The way Paige had felt around Emily today made her question her intentions with Rachel. Was she a substitute for something she could have anymore?

It all led back to Emily, like it had always done in the past.

Paige sat down on a bench and pulled out her phone. She needed to call Pam. Spencer was right. She could blame Pam for being doubtfully and caring when it came to her only daughter. She was the only family she had after her husband's death. Paige could only imagine, but Pam must have picked up the pieces Paige had left Emily in when she left Rosewood.

Paige stared at her phone, turning it over from time to time. What would she say to Pam to convince her that she was here to comfort Emily and nothing more when she didn't knew anymore if that was the truth? She needed to try at least.

Paige dialed Pam's cellphone number and hope that she had not changed it.

"Hello?" She heard Emily's mother answer the phone.

"Hi." Paige said briefly, her heart pounding in her chest. What was she so nervous about? She had always had a connection to Emily's mother since she had been at their house often for any occasion.

"Who's this?" Pam asked insecurely.

"Hi… um… it's Paige."

"Paige? Wait, did something happen to Emmy?" Pam was scared.

"On, no, no." Paige said quickly. "Emily is fine. I was with her this morning." _Why did I say that? Pam is already not pleased about me being here._

"I know." _Great. She knows._ "Why are you calling?" Pam was friendly but distant. Although Paige understood, she wished for Pam's sincere way she had talked to Paige when Emily and Paige had still been an item.

"Well, I like to offer my condolences. Wayne was a great man and he meant a lot to me." Paige said. It had been easier to say when she had practiced it in her head before. Now her mouth was dry and she needed to keep the tears inside. She could hear Pam breath out heavily on the other side of the line.

"Thanks, Paige. Yes he was and I know that you meant a lot to him too."

They were silent for a moment and Paige watched a little bug running over her shoe while she thought of a way to start the second part of their conversation. She had known it wouldn't be easy to talk to Pam but now that she was confused about her feelings for Emily, Paige found it hard to be honest.

"Come on Paige, I know you. I know you want to tell me something." _Damn. Even over the phone she sees right through me. After all this time._

"Pam, I know you're not a fan of me being here. And I understand, I really do. But I'm not here to win her back." _That's not even a lie._ Even if she still had feelings for Emily, it would not lead to getting back together with her automatically.

"Please Paige, I don't think you'll do it on purpose. But I know my daughter and I know, you know her too. She was so devastated when you left. You being in her life again, it just brings up old emotions." _If you knew how right you are._

"I know, Pam. I never wanted to hurt her that bad." Paige admitted. "But please, trust me. I don't want her to fall in love with me again. I care for her too much." Paige didn't know if she was making sense.

"I know you do and it is really honorable that you're there for her."

"So let me take care of her for the next couple of days." Paige said and added "I promised to Wayne."

"What do you mean?" Pam asked confused.

"The first evening here in Rosewood, I went up to Emily's room and sat down on her bed for a while watching her sleep. I saw the picture of you and Wayne on her nightstand. I always loved that picture. I made a promise that night."

"How long are you staying in Rosewood?" Pam asked. She needed to change the subject if she didn't want to cry.

"Technically, I have school. So calling in sick for more than a week would raise suspicions." Paige explained and bit her tongue in the next moment. She was trying to convince Pam of her right intentions. Skipping school wasn't exactly helping, was it? "I'm leaving on Saturday."

"Does Emmy know?"

"Not yet. We hadn't had a good start as you probably know."

"Look, Paige. I do want to trust you. I always had. As a mother - and now her only parent - it is my job to worry about her."

Paige nodded although she knew Pam couldn't see. She understood.

"I know the girls doing their best but it had always been you who came through to her. Take care of her but please, be honest with her in any way and at every time, okay? I don't want her to get hurt."

"Understood." Paige said briefly. She was happy that Pam came around. She was about to hang up but then heard Pam's voice.

"And Paige? Thank you."

Paige smiled and hung up.

* * *

Emily had slept for a while after Paige had left and woke up being a bit confused. She didn't know where she was right away and even when she acknowledged that she was on the sofa, she didn't know how she got there. Then she remembered: Paige had been with her this morning. She had made breakfast for her. Emily smiled when the image of Paige humming in her kitchen while making pancakes came to her head. She definitely had enjoyed her time with Paige.

Then she remembered breaking down in front of Paige. Had she really lost it that badly? _Oh, wait…_ Emily saw herself in Paige's arms, sobbing. _Oh God, did I really do that? Why did I let her see me like that?_ But despite the shame she felt in this moment, Emily had to admit that being held by Paige had felt pretty good. Her left arm put around her shoulder pulling her close to her body. Paige chin resting lightly on her head. Her right hand softly striking through her hair, telling her without words that it would be okay someday. Thinking of Paige's soft touch made Emily's skin make goosebumps. If it weren't for Paige, she would probably still vegetate in her bed.

Paige always knew what Emily needed and that made the difference. For Aria, Spencer and Hanna she always was the vulnerable one who needed protection. That was what they were doing now. Protecting her from grieving and hurting too much. They were overwhelming her with care. Paige instead got that she needed to be for herself from time to time. Giving her that space didn't mean letting Emily down and Paige understood that.

Then Emily remembered inviting Paige for diner and jumped up in shock. _What time is it? And where the hell is my phone?_ Emily spun around, lifting and throwing away the cushions. She couldn't find it. _When did I have it last? Think, Fields! Think!_ Emily remembered talking to her mother outside in the morning. After that she had been with Paige the whole time and didn't look on her phone. Emily checked the kitchen counter. _Yes!_ She pushed the home button to see what time it was.

5:48 pm.

 _Fuck!_ Emily thought. Paige is coming by at 7. _I need to clean up… and take a shower…_

Emily ran upstairs, quickly scanning through the messages she got 'til the last time she had checked her phone.

 **Mum: Emmy, let me know how your morning went. Love you, Mum**

There was no time to call her mother right now, so she quickly texted **"Morning was fine. Call you tomorrow"** and added a heart emoji before pressing send.

There was a text from Aria, earlier today **I'm sorry about yesterday. We all are. Please call me. –Aria**

Emily sighted. She hadn't thought about her friends all day. She had been so furious yesterday, but it was gone today. She understood that they had meant well by calling Paige. Given the fact that Paige and her got along pretty good, Emily couldn't be mad at her friends anymore.

 **Meet me at my house tomorrow after school? Can't talk right now. Paige's coming over – E**

Emily saw no reason to hide the fact that Paige was coming over tonight. Her friends probably already knew. Her phone beeped.

 **Alright, be there at 4. Say Hi to Paige – Aria**

There were several texts from Hanna who had not been as reluctant as Aria.

 **Look, I'm sorry, Em. Love - H**

 **But I know you know by now that I was right about you needing Paige.**

 **Yeah, we talk. So you better not deny it!**

 **Btw, I'm glad you're better.**

Emily had to smile. This was classical Hanna. But Hanna was right, now _and_ then. She knew now that she needed Paige to get over her grief. Maybe she had been too deep into her shit that she didn't realize it sooner. Maybe she would've called Paige herself. _Maybe…_

Emily asked Hanna to come over at 4 the next day and Hanna accepted right away. _Why is she always on her phone?_

Spencer had not sent a text but it didn't surprise Emily. It was not because Spencer didn't care but because she knew better than to act hastily. Emily guessed that all of them had met today, not only Paige and Hanna. So Spencer would how today went and that would be enough for Spencer. Emily was grateful that Spencer had not lavished her with texts.

 **Hey, Spence. The gang is coming over tomorrow at 4. You're in?** Emily typed and pressed "send". She knew Spencer would say yes.

Emily prepared to write one last text but that one didn't come out that easily. It was to Paige and Emily didn't know how to start.

 **Hi…** Emily started but deleted it right away. She didn't want to seem insecure which she totally was.

 **Hey, Paige** To casual? Emily deleted it again.

 **So I just woke up and I hope it's not too late for my food order ;-) Well, actually, I wanted to tell you to just surprise me with something you like to eat tonight. Since you're my guest tonight. Looking forward to see you. –Em**

Emily had considered leaving the last part out but she really was looking forward to see Paige tonight. So why not being honest about it like she had been about the rest?

With the thought of having Paige over for dinner tonight and a smile on her face Emily started to tidy up the kitchen and the living room before taking a shower.


	10. Chapter 10

Emily was nervous. _It is just dinner and a movie_ , she told herself. With her ex-girlfriend which came all the way from California just to be with Emily because she was mourning her dad… Maybe it was more than dinner and a movie. It sure felt like it to Emily. And talking herself down wasn't working very well. But Emily didn't have any time to think about Paige's commitment. She heard the doorbell ring from downstairs. Emily took a quick look into the mirror and ran downstairs. She took a deep breath and opened the door.

"Hey!" Emily greeted Paige and stepped aside to let her in. She hoped that Paige would not notice how nervous she was. If she did, she didn't let Emily see it. Paige had a huge grin on her face and stepped into the hallway. _She seems happy to see me_ , Emily thought. _I'm definitely happy to see her._

Paige held up a white bag which had written "Sarno's" on it.

"Oh my God. You brought dinner from Sarno's!" Emily nearly shouted. _I love you!,_ she was about to add but noticed that it would probably be a bad joke given their dating history.

"I assume you like it?" Paige asked with a grin. She knew that Emily liked Italian food but Sarno's must have opened after she had left Rosewood, so Paige couldn't tell if their food was good.

"Are you kidding? Nobody can resist Sarno's." Emily punched Paige softly on her shoulder and took the bag from Paige. Paige held up her hands in surrender and Emily led her guest to the kitchen where she arranged the food on two plates.

"Please sit down. I'll be there in a minute. Are you up to a glass of red wine?" Emily asked and wondered if it was a bit over the top and would make the dinner look too romantic for a casual evening. Emily looked at Paige to see if she was giving away an answer to her unsaid question. Paige just smiled at Emily, so she assumed that it was okay.

"Your mom would kill me if she knew I would encourage you in drinking." Paige stated half-seriously.

"Good that she isn't here then." Emily smirked and poured two glasses of wine of which she handed one to Paige. Their hands touched for a brief moment but neither of them picked up on it although they both liked to touch the other for a second. The unexpected touch made their stomachs jump in excitement but neither of them let on about it.

Paige had sat down and Emily put a plate in front of her. Then she took her own plate and glass and sat down across from Paige. They both smiled at each other briefly before starting to eat. They both did so quietly for a while because they wanted to enjoy the food while it was still warm.

"So, I see you're feeling a bit better than this morning." Paige was the first to start a conversation.

"I guess I do." Emily knew why that was but she looked for a way to tell Paige without overselling it. She didn't want to seem clingy or creepy or whatever to Paige but there was no denying that Paige was indeed the reason her mood had lightened up. Emily had done some thinking while getting herself and the house ready. With Paige being here, old feelings were stirring up although Emily knew that it wasn't just _old_ feelings. There were some _current_ feelings for Paige which she couldn't really place right now. At first she thought it was about friendship but it wasn't. It was more than that. She knew she and Paige could never be just friends. There would always be more to the story – at least for Emily. _It isn't love_ , Emily told herself. There was no doubt about it. Too much had happened since Paige had left. They both had moved on, they both had evolved. Emily didn't even know if Paige had been dating or of she currently was seeing someone. _Sure she did. Why would a gorgeous woman like Paige would be single?_ But Emily couldn't forbid being able to fall in love with Paige again. Not right away, but someday. Maybe.

"I'm happy that you don't feel the need to hide under a blanket all day anymore." Paige said because Emily obviously had considered her options for too long. She still wanted to tell Paige. She had to. Paige was making such a great effort to make her feel better. Emily needed to let her know that it wasn't for nothing.

"Actually, I'm feeling better because of you…" _There, I said it._ "Well… you know… because this morning…" Emily felt the urge to explain why Paige made her feel better but she only stuttered. She didn't want to give Paige a false impression of what she was feeling. And what would that false impression even be? That she liked spending time with Paige? That was nothing but the truth. That Emily still had feelings for Paige? Well, did she have feelings? Yes, but what kind of feelings? That was a complicated topic which she didn't want to get into.

Paid laid her hand on Emily's. "Don't worry, I get it. I'm glad I can help." Paige said with a smile.

"Thanks, Paige. For everything. Breakfast, dinner and everything that came with it." Emily noticed that Paige's hand was still on hers and she wondered why. Emily couldn't just pull away without offending Paige. Before Paige could say anything, Emily asked "Can I get you anything else?" and stood up. It seemed like a good excuse. Paige took back her hand and stood up as well.

"Let me clean. You just pick out a movie."

Emily was about to protest but Paige's smile made her follow her orders. _God, that beautiful smile._ Emily thought while walking over to the TV set. She heard Paige clean the dishes in the kitchen and felt bad for letting her do all the work. She thought about going back there to help her but she knew she would just get another one of those beautiful smiles which would send her back exactly where she was. She knew that another one of those smiles from Paige would get her into trouble. So Emily stayed where she was and switched through Netflix looking for a suitable movie for tonight. Nothing romantic, of course. And Paige wasn't into action. Emily really liked horror movies but she knew that would leave her clinging to Paige in fear sooner or later. So that wasn't an option either. Emily looked through the comedy section and hoped she would find something there. Comedy seemed harmless.

"So what are we watching?" Paige asked when she came into the room. She had brought the bottle of wine and put it between their glasses on the table.

"It's not that easy, you know?" Emily admitted.

"Let me see." Paige said and looked at the screen. "How about Intouchables? Have you seen it?"

"In fact, I haven't but everybody was so enthusiastic about it, right?"

"It's a good story. It's nice how they're able to get past their differences, you know." Paige was quiet for a second. "Well, it's not exactly the same, but we were able to get past our differences… well basically my impossible behavior."

"You had your reasons. Well, maybe not for nearly drowning me, but…" Emily left the sentence unfinished and laughed.

"See, that's what I mean. You're able to laugh at it now although it was everything but funny back then."

Now it was Emily who touched Paige's hand. "You made up for it – more than enough." Emily smirked. It was a bold move but she decided she could take the risk.

"Are we watching the movie now or what?" Paige asked jokingly and ignored the comment. She didn't exactly know what Emily meant but there were several situations which came to her mind but she didn't want to think about any of them right now. It would definitely be inappropriate.

Emily poured them a second glass of wine and sat down on one side the couch. Paige was sitting on the other side, careful not to be too close to Emily. Emily seemed fine with their seating arrangements and started the movie. During the movie, Paige and Emily both shifted more to the middle of the couch and made themselves feel comfortable. There was no problem with that. It just felt natural to the both of them. From time to time Emily peeked at Paige but Paige's gaze was directed at the TV screen. Emily couldn't believe how lucky she was right now. Just being here with Paige watching a movie with no strings attached was enough. Two days ago she would never have guessed that she would be able to feel that way again in her entire life. When she saw Paige moving, Emily quickly looked back at the screen and pretended to have watched for the entire time.

About an hour and a half later, Emily felt Paige's head resting on her left shoulder. Emily turned her head slowly towards Paige who had fallen asleep during the movie. With her right index finger Emily tucked a strain of hair behind Paige's ear. Paige looked gorgeous and peaceful, Emily thought. She stopped herself from touching Paige's cheek although it was really tempting. Emily wasn't allowed to anymore.

When the movie ended, Emily watched Paige sleep for a while but then decided to get up as smooth as possible. She didn't want to wake Paige. She failed and Paige opened her eyes with a slight irritation on her face. Then she remembered where she was.

"How long was I out?" She asked and dipped her head.

"Not long. Maybe 15 minutes?"

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It's fine. Must be the wine. I'm tired as well."

"So, I better get going then." Paige said and stood up. She stretched her arms and legs to shake off her fatigue.

"You're welcome to stay. I can take the couch." Emily really wished for Paige to accept. It wasn't as much about spending the night than having her for breakfast in the morning. She really wanted a do over of today's breakfast.

"I shouldn't. I promised Hanna to be back for tonight." It was a lie but Paige needed to tell it. She didn't trust herself enough to stay over. Paige had picked up on Emily's behavior tonight and she sensed that there was more to the story. Paige knew that there was more to it for herself, even with Rachel in the picture. Paige feared that with her staying over things would get heated up. In the end Paige and Emily would do something stupid which they both would regret in the morning.

"Alright. Will I see you tomorrow?" _Please say yes._

"In fact, I hoped that you would ask." Paige grinned. "I arranged a little surprise for you tomorrow. I will pick you up at 2pm if you're up to it."

Emily looked a bit confused but accepted with a smile.

"What do I need?"

"I'll take care of it. Just be ready at 2pm."

"I will." And after a moment "Shit. I told the girls to come over at 4."

"So I'll pick you up at 1? I'll take care of it and we'll be through 'til 4. I promise."

"You're the best. So I will see you tomorrow!"

Paige and Emily allowed themselves to hug for good-bye with their hands right there on each other's back, careful not to touch where it wasn't appropriate. The hug though felt warm and right. Paige picked up a scent of Emily's perfume. Lime and nutmeg, like it always had been. Paige released Emily from the hug quickly. She needed to leave before they passed the point of no return.


	11. Chapter 11

It was 12:55 and Emily was on pins and needles. She had been over so many possible surprises Paige could've arranged but she couldn't have decided on one. There was only one way to find out and that was waiting for another 5 minutes. 5 minutes which surely seemed to be much longer than that.

When Paige finally stood on Emily's front porch, Emily was excited like a little child. Paige laughed. She liked playing this little game with Emily because she knew that it was totally worth it.

"Pleeease tell me where we're going." Emily begged but Paige still wasn't telling. They were in Hanna's car which Hanna had been more than happy to offer to Paige in order to help with her plan to get Emily out of the house for some hours. It would be a short drive and soon Emily would figure out where they were going. She knew the place too well. So Paige knew it was okay to let her wait for some minutes.

"Wait, we're going to Rosewood High?" Emily said confused when Paige drove around a corner not far from Rosewood Highschool. It wasn't hard for her to figure out where they were going from here. Paige had tried not to give it away by taking some detours but from here on there was no fooling Emily anymore.

"We are and no, you're not supposed to go to class. That's all I'm saying!" Paige said with a grin. A few minutes later she parked the car and took a bag from the trunk.

"You didn't." Emily said with a knowing smile. There was only one reason they would need a bag at Rosewood High.

"Oh yeah, I did." Paige was happy that her surprise seemed to have worked. Emily's eyes were shining.

"How?" Emily asked when they entered the main building.

"I talked to Coach Fulton yesterday afternoon. She was happy to see me and even happier to help me out with this. She told me there was no training today and that we have to pool to ourselves for as long as we want. So I bought two swim suits and asked Hanna if I could borrow her car."

Emily didn't know what to say. She was overwhelmed. It had been a long time since she had been in the water and there had been moments when she wished she would still be able to be on the team. Being in the water had always made her forget and there was a lot to forget about. What kept her from asking Coach Fulton if she could use the pool off schedule was that there had always been the fear of not being able to swim like she was used to because of her shoulder. Of course she knew swimming competitively wasn't an option anymore but Emily feared for learning that swimming at all wasn't possible anymore. Today with Paige, she was too excited to even think about that fear.

Paige watched Emily pacing to the locker room. Paige herself was overwhelmed as well by Emily's reaction to the surprise. Paige had had mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, she knew how much Emily liked being in the water. On the other hand, Paige was aware of what the injury had done to Emily. She still wasn't over the fact that she wouldn't be on any college's swim team in the future. Paige had feared that she was causing more damage than she was trying to heal open wounds. She was relieved that this obviously wasn't the case.

"I give you some time to change." Paige said after she took off her clothes. Before leaving Hanna's she had put on her swim suit so there wouldn't be any awkwardness in the locker room. That way Paige could just take off her shirt and bottoms and wait in the pool area until Emily would have changed.

"Okay. I'm right behind you!" Emily was too excited to waste any of the precious time she was given by Paige and Coach Fulton.

Once Emily was in the water she felt completely free. She had missed this feeling. Swimming was like riding a bike to her. Once you've learned how to do it, you wouldn't forget. It just came naturally to Emily. Paige as well swam her rounds but she often stayed behind Emily. She liked to watch her ex-girlfriend flying in the water. She always had and looked beautiful doing it. Not just physically but Emily was also really glowing once she was in the pool. It was like every burden was falling from her.

Paige was just beneath the start block looking in Emily's direction deep in her thoughts about her ex-girlfriend. Emily surfaced right next to her.

"Jesus, Em!"

"What are you so jumpy about?" Emily laughed and saw Paige's cheeks blush. Paige dipped her head to hide her embarrassment. Thinking about Emily that way and looking at her suddenly seemed so inappropriate to Paige.

"Um, nothing!" She knew Emily wouldn't let her down easily.

"Come on, you can tell me." Emily pressed and wondered what was on Paige's mind that made her blush.

"Don't get creeped out, okay?" Paige still had her head dipped.

Emily was a bit confused but promised that she wouldn't.

"I was thinking about you." Paige lifted her head and saw a smile on Emily's face. She couldn't help but smile as well.

"Only good things, I hope."

"Always." Paige said and looked deep into Emily's eyes. She wanted for Emily to see that she was serious. It wasn't just a casual answer.

Emily picked up on the change of atmosphere. Paige wasn't joking. She was being serious. Emily's heart began to race. She dipped her head for fear she might have understood it all wrong. She feared that she would just kiss Paige right there in the pool and would regret it a second later only because she had thought that Paige was flirting.

But what if Emily had understood it perfectly fine? This thought made her heat race even more. What if she had another chance with Paige? Did she even want another chance with Paige?

"Well we better get going. You're meeting the girls in about 45 minutes." Paige decided to let the moment go. Emily had gone awfully quiet after her answer and Paige didn't know why. Did she offend her?

"Yeah you're right. You want to hit the shower first?"

"No, go ahead. I'm just going for some last rounds."

Emily nodded. "It'll be just 10 minutes." She vanished to the locker room and Paige turned around. She didn't dare to follow Emily with her eyes. While Paige swam her rounds, she was still thinking about Emily's reaction. Paige came up with two explanations. One, Emily was offended by Paige's forwardness. Maybe it came out too flirtatious and Emily was scared that Paige still had feelings for her while Emily herself was looking for a friend. Two, Emily came to the conclusion that she might still have feelings for Paige and the thought of Paige returning these feelings scared her. In that case, Paige needed to play her cards right, starting with a phone call to Rachel. Paige wouldn't go behind her back. It wasn't fair to both Rachel and Emily. Even if Emily didn't return her feelings, Paige needed to talk to Rachel. She couldn't be with her while having feelings for her ex-girlfriend. It just wasn't right. Paige sighed and got out of the pool. She wrapped a towel around her shoulders and decided to check on Emily.

"Knock, knock." Paige said and peeked in the locker room.

"Come in. I'm fully clothed!" Emily shouted in Paige's direction.

Paige came in and saw Emily rubbing her hair with her towel.

"Check the bag. There's a dryer in there. I'm going to hit the shower, okay?"

"You thought of everything." Emily noted with a smile.

Paige quickly showered and put on some clothes while Emily was drying her hair in the other room.

"Can I come in?" Emily asked when she was ready.

"It's all safe." Paige said with her back turned to Emily. She was packing their stuff into the bag.

"Listen…" Emily sat down on a bench. "Sorry for earlier. These last few hours had been perfect. You did know exactly what to do one more time."

Paige still had her back turned to Emily but she stopped packing up. Paige listened to what Emily was saying. All of the sudden, she felt like the locker room was heating up. Her heart began to race. Whatever Emily was about to say, Paige would probably know what Emily was thinking about the two of them. Paige wanted to get out of there but knew she couldn't. She couldn't face either losing Emily over this or starting something with her right now. Paige needed to get her head straight first. She needed to figure out what she really wanted. She needed to be sure that being with Emily was what she wanted before getting into that. Getting involved with her only to break up a few months later wasn't fair to Emily. Paige thought about her phone call with Pam. That would be a tough one. She had promised Pam that nothing was going on. Well that was what Paige had thought yesterday but spending more and more time with Emily made her realize that there was more.

"You kind of always do, Paige. You jump on a plane, call in sick at school and come here. You stay here with me after I yelled at all of you, after I kicked you out. You come to my house and make me breakfast. You're amazing, Paige." Emily stopped and looked at Paige. Paige stood there, completely quiet. "Paige?"

Paige turned around, not saying a word. Emily's words had melted her heart. _Guess, she's not mad about being a bit flirty._

Emily stood up and took a step towards Paige. Paige looked at her feet and pulled on the seam of her shirt for fear what Emily was about to do. She thought Emily was about to kiss her. Instead, Emily wrapped her arms around Paige and pulled her close. Paige put her hands on Emily's back. She could smell shampoo and a bit of chlorine in Emily's hair. Paige closed her eyes and took it all in. She somehow always had liked this scent on Emily. To be honest, Paige had often been turned on by it. She couldn't really explain but that's how it had been in the past. That's how it was now. _I'm in trouble_ , Paige thought. She was totally under Emily's spell.

Emily released Paige from the hug and kissed her on the cheek to underline her said words. The kiss just came natural to her. She didn't even think about it. If she had, she clearly wouldn't have done it at all. But it felt good to be that close to Paige. It felt right to be with Paige. This moment right here felt like coming home.

Paige still was very silent.

"Since when are you at a loss of words?" Emily joked.

"Since you were saying all those things." Paige's mouth was dry. This situation was more than she could take. She needed to calm down. She needed to get away from the locker room. It was just too loaded with attractiveness and longing for the other one.

Emily squeezed Paige's hand briefly. "It's nothing but the truth."

"Thanks, Em. Really. It means a lot to me." _I just wanna kiss you really bad right now._

"I feel bad that I can't spend the rest of the day with you." Emily admitted. "You could come."

"No, Em. You need to be with the girls without me being the fifth wheel." Paige was fine with having the afternoon and probably the evening to herself. She knew Emily needed to reconnect with her friends. They only could to it right without Paige being there. In fact, Paige needed some time alone to think.

"Can I see you tomorrow?"

Paige smiled. "Of course. I'm happy to keep you company."

"So, it's a date!" Emily said excited. "Let's go?"

"Let's go!" Paige grabbed her bag and the both of them walked to Hanna's car. The drive back to Emily's house was slightly different from the one to Rosewood High. Both Emily and Paige were deep in her thought about the things which had happened in the last few hours. They both were overwhelmed by their feelings. Feelings which they had not known to have.

"I'll call you about tomorrow, okay?" Emily said when she got out of the car.

"Feel free to call anytime." Paige said with a smile and hoped that Emily would call tonight or at least text her.

"Thanks again for today. I really needed that swim." Emily pressed her lips on Paige's cheeks through the open car window. "Have a nice evening." Emily turned around and went into her house.

"You, too." Paige whispered and touched the spot on her cheek where Emily had placed her goodbye kiss. Somehow Paige could still feel Emily's lips on her skin.


	12. Chapter 12

Paige lay in bed late that evening, tired from today's events. Despite that, Paige was too excited to sleep. She felt like the time when she first had a crush on Emily. Only this time, she wasn't too afraid to pursue it. Paige had decided that she had interpreted the signals right. Emily must have feelings for her as well. It was the only explanation for everything: Emily's change in mood, her warm words in the locker room with the kiss on the cheek afterwards and of course the way she said goodbye to Paige in the driveway. Paige knew Emily and had seen her a lot with her closest friends. Today's behavior was no behavior Emily would show in friendship. Not even in a friendship with her ex-girlfriend or maybe especially not in a friendship with her ex-girlfriend. Either way, Emily's behavior meant that she was seeing Paige for more than a friend.

Paige was both excited and afraid. Excited because she saw a chance for the two of them to be together. Just thinking about being close to Emily again made Paige feel all warm and like coming home somehow. It was funny how everything in her life so far had always led up to being with Emily. After all that they had been through, Paige believed that right now there was a chance for them to really be together … like forever.

But Paige was afraid that it might not work out. Sure, everything had led up to being with Emily but it also had been followed up by a break up every time. Paige knew that she could not break Emily's heart again. In that way, she would honor her promise to Pam. But Paige had considered her feelings very well since this afternoon and she came to the conclusion that she needed Emily in her life. She couldn't go without out her. She had tried in the last few months but being here in Rosewood with Emily made her realize that she couldn't. But was Emily feeling the same? If there would be even the slightest chance that she wasn't, Paige wouldn't pursue this. There were still so many imponderables even if Emily would go to Pepperdine. It was better than long distance between California and Pennsylvania but it still was a 6 hour drive.

Paige's mind was spinning. Luckily her phone buzzed in the right moment. Paige picked up her phone and couldn't suppress a smile. It was a text from Emily.

 **Emily: U awake?**

Paige quickly typed **I am :) How was your date with the girls?** and pressed "send". Then she realized that it wasn't the best choice of words. Emily would understand.

 **Emily: We're an item again ;)** Emily picked up on Paige's choice of words and made it less uncomfortable for Paige.

 **Paige: I'm happy for you!**

Paige truly was. Emily needed her friends. Paige would leave on Saturday and she didn't want for Emily to hide in her bedroom again.

 **Emily: What are you doing?**

Paige started to type but decided to take a selfie of her lying in bed instead and sent it to Emily.

 **Emily: Cute ;)**

Emily's text made Paige smile.

 **Paige: What are you doing?**

She hoped she would get a picture in return. She didn't get disappointed. Emily sent Paige a picture of herself sitting in bed and smiling into the camera. Paige loved that smile and closed her eyes for a few seconds. She couldn't believe how happy she was right in this moment.

 **The girls left some minutes ago. Is Hanna not home yet?** Emily added.

 **Paige: Beautiful smile :)**

 **Paige: I don't know. I'm in the guest room. Haven't heard Hanna come in.** Right that second there was a knock on the door and Hanna's head appeared.

"Hey, what are you all happy about?" Hanna asked and came in.

"Nothing." Paige tried to hide.

"Come on. I just spend some hours with a smiling Emily. Tell me that you know nothing about that."

"I don't."

"Oh, Paigey. I thought you'd know me better by now." Hanna sat down on the end of the bed and looked at Paige with a faked serious look on her face.

"Oh come on. You already know the story."

"Oh, yeah. I do but I want you to tell it!"

"You're pure evil, you know that, Marin?" Paige joked. "My little surprise went perfect. Well, you saw Emily. She's feeling so much better."

"Aaaand?"

"Okay, okay. We kind of had a moment in the locker room."

"You did what?" Hanna said surprised. _Didn't Emily tell?_

"It's not like you think. Emily was all grateful and said all those really nice words and I was just standing there like a dumbass doing nothing. I just couldn't talk."

"Awww, you're so in love with her, aren't you?"

"I don't know, Hanna. Ah, how am I kidding? I love her. I never stopped loving her. How could I?"

"That's so sweet!" Hanna was really excited. "What else happened? You weren't this love struck yesterday?"

"Well, like I said, she said all those sweet things and I just stood there. Then she wrapped me into a close and warm hug and kissed me on the cheek."

"Nooo!" Hanna said disbelieving.

"Really? She hasn't told you any of it?"

"No, but that was probably because she didn't want to in front of all of us."

"Yah, probably. Anyway, she kissed me on the cheek and that's when she definitely got me. This moment right there, everything was right. It was like we haven't been apart at all. And then she kissed me on the cheek when she said goodbye."

"Awww, so what are you gonna do about it?"

"I don't know. I don't want to mess it up. I don't even know how she feels."

"Paige, please. Just look at her."

"I see it, Hanna. I do but I need to be sure. I don't want to leave her heartbroken."

"I get that. I wish I could help you but I guess you two need to figure it out by yourselves."

"Thanks , Hanna."

"You're welcome. I'm sure you to will find a way." Hanna smiled and gave Paige a hug.

"You need anything else?"

"No, thanks. I think I'm just gonna lay here and text with Emily for a while and then go to sleep."

Hanna smiled. "If I were into girls I would definitely wanna date you, McCullers!"

Paige laughed and waved it off.

"So have a good night then."

"You too, Hanna."

When Hanna closed the door, Paige hoped that Emily would not have went to sleep while she was talking to Hanna. A look on her phone gave her the answer.

 **Emily: I think she will be home soon**

 **Emily: You asleep?**

 **Emily:** **Sweet dreams. Looking forward to see you tomorrow ;)**

 _Damn._

Paige decided to send one last text befor she would go to sleep herserself.

 **Paige: Sorry, Hanna came home and we talked for a while. Have a good night :) Can't wait to see you!**

Paige put away her phone and turned off the light. She rolled onto her side and wandered off into a calm sleep.

* * *

Paige was woken up by the buzz of her phone. With her eyes still closed she searched for her phone. When she finally opened her eyes she was blinded by the light in the guestroom. _What time is it?_ A look at the display of her phone told her that it was 9 am. Paige really had needed a good and long sleep. Doing all this thinking must have exhausted her. Paige rubbed her eyes and read the text.

 **Emily:** **Hey sleepyhead. Sorry I went to sleep early yesterday. I know how Hanna can be. What did you talk about?**

Paige considered telling a lie because she wasn't sure about telling Emily that she had been the topic of Hanna's and Paige's conversation yesterday evening. Then Paige decided that she would go with the truth because she knew that Emily would know how to take it. She would know that Paige wasn't flirting shamelessly.

 **Paige: We talked about you ;) and our little swim date…**

 **Emily: So what did you have to say on that?**

Emily was teasing Paige and Paige liked it.

 **Paige: I said that I had a really nice time with you and that I'm happy that you're feeling better.**

 **Emily: I do feel better. Thanks to you.**

 **Paige: Oh please, you're making me blush!**

 **Emily: I can totally see you smile right now, McCullers :-P**

 **Paige: Okay, you got me! Sorry, need a shower and coffee. Talk to you later?**

 **Emily: I need to run some errands anyway. I call you in about an hour**

A part of Emily wanted to be there in the shower with Paige. The thought of it made her feel like there were a thousand butterflies in her stomach. To be true, she even felt something between her thighs. Quickly Emily tossed away her thoughts about her naked ex-girlfriend in the shower. She wasn't allowed to think about her that way anymore and more important she thought she wouldn't be able to stop.

Paige took a long and hot shower and then went to the kitchen to make her a coffee. On the counter she found a note from Hanna: **Hope you had a good night. Wish you luck with Emily today!** Paige had to smile. She liked the encouragement. Paige knew what she wanted and hoped that she would have the chance to get to know what Emily felt later today. Paige made herself coffee and toast. She wondered what Emily was up to for their "date" later that day. Her thought was interrupted by the ringtone of her phone.

"Hey Em. You're early!" Paige joked.

"I'm sorry but I couldn't wait. I would like to take you on a picnic later. You're in?"

Emily had put a lot of thought in it. She would take Paige to the place where she and Emily had their first picnic back when they had had to meet secretly. Emily had been really happy that afternoon. Well, except for the ending when she told Paige that she couldn't date her like that. But Emily only wanted to think about the happy part of their date and she hoped that Paige would be reminded how it felt in their early days.

"Totally! I love a good picnic. When do you want me there?"

"How about right now?" Emily really couldn't wait to see Paige.

"Um, give me 10 minutes to get ready and some minutes to get to your house."

"I can pick you up. We need to drive anyway."

"You don't have to. I'm walking, no problem."

"Don't be silly. I'll be there in 15, okay?"

"Alright, see you in 15!"

Emily parked the car on a gravel parking lot at the edge of a little forest outside of Rosewood. When Paige realized where they were going her heart jumped. Emily was taking them to the place where they had their first picnic. It had been a day after the two of them had shared a nice evening at some remote karaoke bar, a day after they had shared an intimate kiss in the parking lot. Paige smiled by the thought of that kiss. She had been happy that night. Happy because she had thought that a girl like Emily wouldn't even think about kissing her.

"What are you smiling about?"

Paige was caught off guard so she just stuttered "Um, nothing… I'm just… in a good mood, I guess."

But Emily knew. She knew that Paige remembered this place and Emily was relieved that it was a happy memory for Paige. Emily decided to play along and took the picnic basket from the trunk. She linked arms with Paige and the two of them marched through rows of trees until they reached the spot of their first picnic. It was a small glade surrounded by deciduous trees which let through some sunlight. The ground was covered with grass and some leaves.

Paige and Emily spread out the blanket under one of the trees and Emily pulled out some finger food which she had prepared at home. She also had packed a thermos filled with coffee and two mugs.

"You thought of everything." Paige stated and sat down on the blanket.

"I tried to make an effort." Emily said with a smile. "How about coffee?"

"I'll take a cup." Emily handed Paige a cup of coffee. Their fingers touched and neither of them pulled away for a moment. It felt too good to touch the others' hand. Not before Paige dipped her head, Emily pulled away her hand. She poured herself a cup as well and lay down on the blanket, on her side facing Paige.

"So the place of our first picnic… how did you come up with that idea?"

"I don't know. It just came to me after you dropped me off at my place yesterday. Being in the pool with you just reminded me of the old times back when we both were on the team. Then I thought of our early days. Like when you tried to drown me…"

"I didn't mean to…" Paige interrupted because after all those years she still felt the need to apologize.

"I know." Emily smiled and touched Paige's cheek softly. "So after I thought about _that_ , I had to think about our first night out when you made me sing "So what" in that rusty karaoke bar and our following date right in this spot." Emily let her eyes wander around the place.

"It's still beautiful here, isn't it?" Emily said.

"It's even more beautiful, I think. Looks like nature recaptured this place. Last time it looked like people came here from time to time. Now, it just seems so untouched."

"Yah, you're right."

There was a moment of awkward silence which they overplayed with testing the food Emily had prepared. From that on, the picnic changed to an easier atmosphere. Paige and Emily talked about different things or just lay there side by side silently, just enjoying each other's company. Time was moving fast but they didn't care. From time to time, they moved the blanket back into the sunlight.

In a moment of silence, Paige and Emily both thought about making a move but they were too insecure. Although they both suspected that the other would approve, there was still a part of them which thought that there was a slight chance of the opposite being the case. They both wouldn't want to risk anything. A moment later, Emily couldn't take it anymore. Without looking at Paige Emily reached for Paige's hand which lay on the blanket.


	13. Chapter 13

**AN: This is happening right after the last chapter.**

 **And I'm sorry that this is a shorter chapter. I had writer's block, kind of.**

* * *

At first, Paige didn't realize what was happening. She couldn't believe Emily was the first to make a move. Then the warm feeling which went through her body made it clear to Paige that she wasn't dreaming at all. Afraid to ruin the moment, Paige didn't say anything or even look at Emily. She just lay there with her hand in Emily's and a smile on her face. The girl of her dreams was actually lying next to her holding her hand. This moment right there was perfect.

Emily felt the same except for one question which was burning inside of her since the day before. She had been able to push it aside with the girls being at her house for pretty much the rest of the day. But now there was no way around it anymore with them being this close. She needed to now before she was getting ahead of herself.

"Paige?" Emily let go of Paige's hand and turned to her. Emily waited until Paige looked at her. "When are you going back?"

"Em…" Paige didn't want to get into this right now.

"I know, I'm totally ruining this moment but please, I need to know."

This moment was too perfect to ruin it but Emily was right. The answer to her question was important. If they wanted to figure this out – maybe even give it chance – they both needed to know all the facts. For Emily it was important to know what Paige's plans were. After all, she was still living across the country.

"Saturday afternoon."

 _The day after tomorrow._ Emily quickly did the math. Of course, Paige had called in sick and there was no way she could extent that without rising suspicions about a serious disease.

"I know, Em." Paige saw the sad look on Emily's face. Paige herself was feeling the same. She hadn't thought that leaving would be hard after a week. She had thought it was about coming here, look out for Emily for a while and leave when she was better. Paige wasn't prepared to feel something for Emily while she was in Rosewood. Now that she did, Paige didn't want to leave. "I know."

Emily had dipped her head. She didn't want to show Paige what she was feeling.

"Hey…" Paige lay her and on Emily's neck to indicate that she should look at her. Emily lifted her head and looked Paige in the eye. Paige smiled at her. "Let's not think about it right now, okay? We can figure it out tonight or even tomorrow. What we have right here, right now – it's means a lot to me. I never thought I would be this close to you again and I know the same goes for you. I know we have to talk but please, let's just cherish this moment." Paige wanted to kiss Emily to show her that she meant what she said but kissing Emily would only complicate this right now. So she just went with holding her hand instead.

Emily expected that Paige would lean in. Emily in fact wanted Paige to kiss her. She even felt Paige's lips on hers although the kiss didn't really happen. Maybe Paige was right not to kiss her right now with things being already complicated. Paige was definitely right about cherishing this moment. Emily wanted to take in every moment with Paige.

"I just need to say this, Paige." Emily began. "Thanks for being here. I mean, it was so spontaneous and you just came here without thinking twice. I thought that it was a bad thing, that you didn't think about how _I_ would feel to see you. I don't know if you did but I'm glad you're here with me now. You make me feel better." Emily paused for a while. "Don't get me wrong, I still think about my dad a lot and I really miss him. But it doesn't take control over me anymore. Thanks for making me realize that it doesn't have to."

"Well, I don't know what to say, Em."

"Then don't." Emily said and moved a little closer to Paige. She put her hand on Paige's arm. Paige looked at Emily and smiled. So Emily let her head rest on Paige's shoulder and closed her eyes. It was nice to be this close to her without the need to figure out what they were and what they could or could not be in the future. Paige was right. This was about cherishing the moment. They did cherish the moment for 2 more hours until Paige heard Emily's stomach grumble.

"Maybe we should grab something to eat. What do you think?" Paige suggested.

"I'm starving, actually."

"Let's go then. Brew?"

"Let me take you somewhere else." Paige said in a mysteriously voice.

"Okay, I trust you."

Paige and Emily packed up their stuff and went back to the car. Emily threw the keys over to Paige who caught them with a surprised look on her face.

"You drive since you know where we're going."

Paige took them to a nice French bistro in a small town. It was a little bistro with only 5 tables and a neat and authentic interior. Emily imagined that a bistro in Paris must look exactly like this.

"How do you even know about this place?" Emily asked after they sat down.

"I didn't even know it was still here. I found this many years ago back when I was… you know… in the closet. Some days I would just get into the car and drive around. It was one of these days; actually it was the day after I kissed you in your car. I was so confused. I really liked you but I was so afraid someone would find out. So to clear my head, I got in my car and drove around. Out of Rosewood at first and then I just came here to this town, to this street. I thought, this is some nice little bistro."

"Why didn't you tell me about it?"

"Well, I must've forgotten about it. Everything was so messed up back then and there was no way past-Paige would have taken you there." Paige dipped her head like she had done some days ago when she had talked about trying to drown Emily. Paige was really ashamed of who she had been back then.

"What made you remember today?"

"The picnic, I guess. We went on that date a couple of weeks later."

"I'm glad you remembered." Emily smiled at Paige but she stopped herself from touching her hand. It was one thing doing it secretly but another doing it in a restaurant. They weren't together and Emily didn't want to think people they were. It would only bring up some uneasy comments.

Emily and Paige spent lunch reminiscing about old times. They laughed a lot and it was almost like they had never been apart. It was hard to remember that they weren't. It was hard not to fall back into old habits like reaching across the table for the other's hand or kiss the other whenever they felt like it.

* * *

"I had a really nice time." Emily said when Paige dropped her off at the house in the afternoon.

"Me too." Paige buried her hands in her pockets and looked at her feet. Suddenly she was nervous and insecure. To her it felt like she was dropping Emily off after a date and she was supposed to kiss Emily. It wasn't that she didn't want to but she wasn't sure that she should or if Emily even wanted her to.

"What's with up you all of the sudden?"

"Nothing, I'm fine." Paige hoped that she sounded convincing.

"You wanna come in?" Emily didn't want their date to end.

"I need to call my mom. I kinda promised yesterday." Paige noticed the disappointed look on Emily's face. "But how about I come over later on?"

Emily's face lightened up. "I like the sound of that. I can cook us something."

"Oh, I would die for a dish of your lasagna."

"Lasagna it is then!"

"Let me take care of the wine. I'll be there at 7?"

"7 is fine."

Emily and Paige stood there, both looking at their feet. They didn't know what to do. Just say goodbye? Hug? Kiss? Emily made a step towards Paige and Paige looked up. Her heart raced when Emily pulled Paige into a close hug. When they released the other from the hug, Paige felt her face really close to Emily's. She was staring at Emily's lips. Emily leaned in but before her lips could touch Paige's, Paige pulled away.

"I'm sorry, Em. I really should be going." Paige said and almost ran to her car.

Emily just stood there and looked at Paige leaving. _What did I do wrong?_

* * *

 **I know, I know. I promise there will be a kiss soon!**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	14. Chapter 14

**I'm sorry I kept you waiting so long. I'm glad you're still reading!**

 **I like to pick up on some reviews:**

 _Subway20_ , Paige's still in High school like Emily. They're just about to graduate. So they'll be in College soon.

 _Guest_ , this fanfiction isn't finished. I'm still writing on it, so there will be a lot more to the story ;)

* * *

Emily wondered what she had done wrong. Why would Paige storm of like that? Emily played it over and over again in her head. She couldn't find a clue. She could've sworn that Paige felt the same about her than she did about Paige. Maybe she had been wrong. Maybe it would be for the best if she was a bit more distant over dinner. Things would cool down and they could talk about it.

Emily decided to check in with her mom. They hadn't talk in the last few days since the last call on Tuesday. When it came to Paige Pam had always been a good adivisor and that's what Emily needed in this moment.

"Hello Emmy." Pam said after she picked up.

"Hey Mom. How are things in Texas?" Emily didn't want to get to the point right away.

"I'm fine. But you're not calling to see how I am. What's going on, Honey?"

"I'm not able to fool you, am I? It's about Paige."

"Did she try something, Emmy? Because she told me…" Pam stopped. She realized that Paige probably wouldn't have told Emily about their phone call.

"No she didn't and what do you mean, she told you?" Emily was confused.

"Listen, Emmy. She probably didn't tell you. She called me some days ago after you two had breakfast at our house."

"She called you?" Why would Paige call her mom?

"She knew I wasn't approving her being there with you. She knew I was afraid of her trying something and hurting you again. I was afraid that she would try to get back together with you and would leave you heartbroken."

"No, Mom. Paige is really careful and disciplined. Believe me. We really had a great time so far. Day before yesterday, we had dinner and watched a movie at the house. Nothing special but we totally hit it off. Then yesterday she took me to Rosewood High for a swim. Mom, she had it all planned out. She talked to Coach and the Principle and we were allowed to use the pool as long as we wanted."

"That's really sweet of her." Pam was a bit suspicious. To her it seemed that Paige was trying to get close to Emily again.

"It is and that's why I thought about how I could return the favor because she really helped me with that swim. So I took her to this beautiful picnic today and we had lunch at this small French bistro in Lakewood. It was perfect."

"That's a good thing, right?" Pam knew her daughter and she knew what Emily was about to tell her. She still had feelings for Paige and she probably didn't know what to do about it.

"When she dropped me off at the house we had a moment."

"So she _did_ try something."

"No, Mom. _I_ did." Emily confessed. She was afraid of her mother's reaction. She clearly had a strong opinion about her and Paige getting back together.

"Oh, Emmy."

"I had such a great time with her and I realized that she still means a lot to me." She knew what her mother would say next so Emily continued "Mom, it's not her fault. Paige and I, we've been through a lot and the fact that she just came here shows me that she still cares about me."

"Emily, nothing changed. Paige lives in California and you in Rosewood."

"That's it, Mom. If I go Pepperdine…"

"You shouldn't go there for the wrong reason."

"I had the acceptance letter before Paige came here and it's the only letter I got. If I want to go to college – and I do – Pepperdine's the only way."

"I get it but do you really want to get back together with her?"

"Paige and I ever were able to get past our differences. We always ended up back together. It's just…"

"What happened?"

"I thought she felt the same. I tried to kiss her this afternoon but she just walked away."

"Maybe she does."

"Then why would she take off like that?"

"Maybe she's just as confused as you are. You should ask her about it. In this situation it is important that you two talk to each other. But Emmy, do me a favor?"

"Yes, Mom?"

"Before you talk to Paige, really think about what you want. Last time, long distance wasn't an option for you two."

"Mom, I didn't say I was thinking about getting back together with Paige."

"No, Emmy. You didn't say it but I know you're thinking about it. Given the history you two have, in this stage pursuing your feelings means getting back together. It's not about something casual and you know it. If Paige really loves you anything other from that wouldn't be fair to her."

"I know, Mom."

"So please be careful okay? I don't want you to get hurt and Paige either."

"I will. Thanks, Mom."

"You're welcome, Honey. You can call me anytime."

"I love you."

"I love you too."

* * *

Emily looked at her watch. 7:15pm. _Where is she?_ The lasagna was almost ready and there was no sign of Paige. She was already 15 minutes late. Emily seriously considered that she wouldn't show at all after what had been going on earlier.

Emily still was confused. The phone call to her mother had not been as helpful as Emily had hoped. Being close to Paige again probably had clouded her discernment. Emily knew now that she should second guess what she had told her mother. It was too easy to fall back into old patterns without adjusting to their current state of life and more important to their current feelings for each other. It was too easy being girlfriends again and saying I love you. Emily knew that it wasn't going to work out that way. Emily didn't even know what Paige was feeling and thinking about this.

When the doorbell rang, Emily almost fell over the carpet in the hallway on her way to the door. She was excited and afraid to see Paige at the same time. Emily opened the door and saw Paige standing in front of her holding a sunflower in her right hand. She had a slightly sad look on her face.

"You look like a sad puppy." Emily joked and hoped she could clear up the awkward atmosphere.

"I'm sorry, Em." Paige dipped her head and extended her arm to give the sunflower. She knew she had a lot explaining to do but the flower was a start.

Emily took the flower and let Paige into the house. "It's okay Paige. Let's talk about it later, okay? Dinner's should be ready now."

"Okay." Paige said and followed Emily to the kitchen. _This is going to be really awkward_ , Paige thought. Emily didn't seem mad or anything but Paige knew it would be hard making it through dinner without being able to really talk.

"You need a hand?" Paige offered when Emily pulled the lasagna from the oven. She definitely needed to do something.

"You can set the table if you want. And I think there's some wine left."

Paige did as asked and then watched Emily arrange the food on the plates. For a moment she thought about wrapping her arms around Emily from behind and kissing her neck. Paige closed her eyes. The feeling of having Emily close to her started to overwhelm her. She wished she could just give in to that feeling but she couldn't. She couldn't for the same reason that she couldn't have kissed Emily earlier that day. Rachel. Paige knew that the only right thing was to break up with her before doing anything with Emily. Paige had thought about breaking up over the phone this afternoon but that was just too cruel. Although it was just a formality to Paige, she had to do it in person. Until then, she would behave, Paige told herself for maybe the hundredth time since the "almost-kiss".

Dinner was indeed a bit awkward for both Emily and Paige. They both didn't really know what to talk about without leading the conversation to _the_ talk. So they ate and exchanged some small talk to get over with dinner quickly.

Paige cleared out the table while Emily filled the dishwasher. Once again, Paige found herself staring at Emily from behind. Once again she was overwhelmed by the feeling of being close to her ex-girlfriend. _Rachel._ Paige knew she should wait until she was single again but Paige knew telling herself that over and over again wasn't going to work for her anymore. Her mind and her body were longing for Emily.

Paige walked over to Emily and stood right behind her. Emily turned around, surprised by the sudden and unexpected closeness to Paige. Both their hearts were pounding in their chests. Paige reached for Emily's hand and looked into Emily's eyes. She could've sworn that there was a little smile on Emily's face. Paige closed her eyes and leaned in. She softly pressed her lips on Emily's. The kiss brought goosebumps to her skin and Paige thought her knees would give in. The kiss was perfect to her.

To Emily the kiss felt like coming home. She felt the well-known and comforting warmth spread through her body. Until this moment Emily hadn't known how badly she had missed this feeling. She laid her right hand on Paige's neck and deepened the kiss. She wished for this moment to never stop.

But it did stop when Paige pulled away. She needed to unless she wanted to go further and that she didn't. At least right now. Kissing Emily was one thing but letting it grow into a real make out-session wasn't going with Paige's conscience. It was bad enough that she kissed Emily while she was with someone else but the kiss had felt too good to have any remorse right now.

"What's wrong?"

"I think we need to talk first." Paige hated to be reasonable.

"Maybe you're right." Emily agreed and let go of Paige's hand. Paige grabbed their glasses of wine and they both sat down on the couch.

They were quiet for a moment and each looked at their glass.

"I don't know where to start. There's so much I wanna say to you." Paige confessed.

"I have a question to begin with."

"Please."

"I talked to my mom after you left. Why did you call her?" Emily already knew but she wanted to hear it from Paige.

"The morning I came to your house, you know the day you kicked us out… when I walked to your room, I kind of overheard you talking to your mom. I figured she wouldn't be a fan of me and I didn't want her to think that I was here to win you back." Paige realized how that must have sounded after making the first step and kissing Emily only 5 minutes ago. "I swear, I wasn't."

"Wasn't. So you are here to win me back now?"

"Em, there's probably no easy way to say it. Back home, I'm seeing someone."

* * *

 **I'm sorry about the cliffhanger, at least a little ;) I promise to update sooner then this time!**


	15. Chapter 15

"You are what?" Emily said in disbelieve. She stood up and paced through the room.

"A couple of weeks ago, I started seeing this girl Rachel."

"You gotta be kidding me…" Emily tried really hard not to cry in front of Paige and being mad seemed to work for now. "You just kissed me, Paige!"

"I know, Em. I know this is messed up."

"You think?"

 _This is going well,_ Paige thought. She had known this conversation wouldn't be easy but this reaction she had not expected. But what had she been expecting? She was dating Rachel but had acted like the contrary was the case. She hadn't led Emily on but she hadn't been up front either. There had never been the opportunity, Paige told herself but she knew she was lying to herself. How could she turn this around or at least limit the damage?

Paige walked over to Emily and tried to take her hand but Emily pulled away. "Emily, please."

"Don't." Emily brought some distance between her and Paige.

Paige bit her lip. She came to the conclusion that it was better to give Emily some space. Emily would reach out to her when she was ready to talk.

"I'm going to leave now." Paige said in a sad voice. Emily kept silent. She didn't even turn around to look at Paige.

Paige left the house low-headed. She had ruined the evening and maybe the last chance of ever being with Emily. Somehow Paige thought that Emily would come after her and ask her back into the house. Emily didn't, so Paige kept walking back to Hanna's.

* * *

Hanna was sitting in the kitchen with Spencer, empty pizza boxes in front of them.

"I didn't mean to interrupt. I'm going right upstairs."

"Don't you dare go anywhere. What happened?" Hanna asked.

"Classic McCullers, I guess. I screwed it up." Paige said and sat down at the table.

Spencer looked from Paige to Hanna and back. "What's going on here?"

Paige didn't answer so Hanna swept in. "Paige is in love with Emily."

Somehow this came as a surprise to Spencer.

"I never stopped loving her and I thought she was in love with me."

"Seems like you need a drink." Hanna said and fixed up a drink for Paige.

"So what happened tonight?" Spencer asked and Hanna handed Paige the glass which she accepted gratefully.

"Thanks. So, earlier today after the picnic Emily tried to kiss me in her driveway. I panicked and took off. I thought of Rachel and how I couldn't do this behind her back. So I kind of ran off without explaining anything. I spent the afternoon thinking about what I really want. I want Emily. It has always been her. Last couple of days, I got the feeling that she is still into me. She even took my hand during the picnic."

"Aww, that's sweet. Didn't you go on a picnic when you first went out together?"

"Exactly the same spot. Anyway, she had invited me to dinner before her attempt to kiss me and she didn't cancel afterwards, so I went over to her house tonight. We had a slightly awkward meal and shared a kiss afterwards."

Hanna looked at Paige, speechless. "Wait what?"

"I know, I know but I couldn't stand it anymore. I just had to."

"How did Emily react?" Hanna was curious. This was exactly the kind of gossip she liked the most.

"That's it. She kissed me back. It was awesome, mind blowing." Paige took a sip of her drink and squinched up her face because of the strong taste.

"Sorry, we just have Scotch and wine." Hanna apologized.

"So before things got out of control, I decided to come clean about seeing someone."

"It was the only right thing to do." Spencer agreed.

"I know it was but it screwed everything up anyway. Emily got really mad. I tried to talk to her but she wouldn't listen. So I left."

"You do know what this means, right?" Hanna asked and looked at Paige who was looking at her like she was talking about aliens or something.

"Oh come on, silly. Emily's into you, too. Why else would she be mad at you for seeing someone?"

"I don't know. Maybe she just felt betrayed?"

"Look at the facts, Paigey. Emily wouldn't even leave the house before you came here. Now she's planning this romantic picnic for you and cooking dinner. You've accomplished everything we couldn't in the last few weeks."

"I guess you're right but it doesn't matter. She won't talk to me anymore. She didn't even look at me when I left."

"Give her some time. She needs to process this."

"Time is the one thing I don't have. I'm going back the day after tomorrow. I can't miss anymore school. I'm back in class on Monday."

Hanna and Spencer were quiet. There was no other solution to this than giving Emily the time she needed.

"Maybe one of us should check on Emily." Spencer suggested.

"I can't be me. She would know I talked to Paige first. She wouldn't talk to me because she would think I'm calling on behalf of Paige." Hanna mentioned.

"Well, we kind of are but you're right." Spencer agreed. "I should probably go anyway. I call Emily from home."

"Good. Talk tomorrow at school?"

Spencer nodded. "Don't let her drink too much, okay?"

"I keep an eye on her. See you tomorrow."

* * *

Spencer lay on her bed, trying to reach Emily for the third time since she came home. She hadn't picked up the last 2 times so Spencer began to think that Emily was going back to her cocoon, seal her off from the rest of the world.

"Spencer, what do you want?" Emily picked up this time.

"I wanted to check if you're okay."

"If you talked to Paige or Hanna, then you know how I feel. I want to be alone."

"Come on, Emily. Talk to me."

"So you can report back to Paige? No thanks."

"You're being unfair. Yes, I did talk to Paige… and Hanna and they know I wanted to call you. But I care for you, Emily."

Emily was quiet.

"I'm worried about you after what happened tonight."

"Can you come over? I don't wanna talk over the phone."

"I'll be there in ten."

* * *

Spencer found Emily on the couch, wrapped up in a blanket and a half empty box of tissues on the table. The other half was spread over the floor.

"Oh, Emily." Spencer sat down on the couch and pulled Emily into a tight hug. She rubbed her back in comfort.

"It'll be alright. I promise." Spencer whispered.

"How can it be?" Emily said crying. Spencer released her from the hug and handed her a tissue.

"You know I already talked to Paige but do you want to tell me what happened?"

"Tonight after dinner, Paige surprised me with a kiss. It was perfect, Spencer. It felt so right. You know, when you've been away for a while and you come home to your own bed. It was just like that first night sleeping in your own bed."

"That's sweet, Em." Spencer smiled weakly. She knew that wouldn't cheer Emily up.

"Well, it don't get anything from that. She's with that girl Rachel."

"Have you thought about that's not what she wants anymore?" There was a thin line here. Spencer didn't want to meddle much but Emily needed some interference right now. There was no way around a talk between Paige and Emily in person. So Spencer thought it was okay to spill some beans.

"I don't know…" Emily had thought about that since Paige left. Maybe Rachel wasn't what Paige wanted anymore but why hadn't she talked to Emily sooner?

"Is she what you want?" Spencer asked carefully.

"I thought she was."

"What changed?" Thinking about it logically – and that was what Spencer was good at – nothing had changed. The cards were on the table now.

"What changed? Everything changed. She played me." Spencer shook her head.

"You don't believe what you're saying, right? There's no way she would do that on purpose."

"Well, she told my mom that she didn't come here to get together with me again."

"What has your mom to do with this?"

"Paige talked to her some days ago."

Spencer remembered that Paige had mentioned something about wanting to call Mrs. Fields.

"Do you believe what she said to you mother?"

"I guess."

"Talk to her, Emily. Paige seemed so devastated when she came home tonight."

"I don't know if I can." Emily confessed and pulled another tissue from the box. She wondered how many tears were left to cry.

"She's leaving on Saturday. You don't know when you're seeing her again. Even if you two can't solve this out, you don't end up with loose ends, right?"

"Maybe you're right."

"You know I'm always right." Spencer laughed. Emily joined and punched Spencer on her shoulder softly.

"Hey, I didn't deserve that!" Spencer yelled.

"Well, I'm not sorry…. okay maybe a little." Emily joked. "Seriously, thanks for being here and sorry for being unfair to you on the phone. It wasn't fair to think that you were spying on me for Paige."

"Occupational hazard. I'm glad you're feeling a bit better. Do you want me to stay over tonight?"

"Thanks for the offer but I guess I will be alright. I'm pretty tired."

Promise you call me if you need anything else, okay?"

"Promise."

After Spencer had left, Emily cleaned the living room and went to bed. Before going to sleep she sent a text to Paige

 **I know you won't be able to sleep tonight otherwise: If you're up to it, maybe we can talk tomorrow. Sleep well. - Em**


	16. Chapter 16

When Paige woke up, Hanna was already off to school but she had left a good luck sign next to the coffee cup and cereal in the kitchen. Paige started to prepare her breakfast. Her head was spinning. She hadn't slept much last night although Emily had sent that text to keep her from being up all night. That was one of the things Paige had always loved about Emily. Even when they had been fighting in their relationship, Emily always had found some nice words. A text like last night or one that simply said _I love you_. Paige remembered that one time when they had been fighting over the phone about something and Emily had hung up on her only to call her back five minutes later to say that she loved her. That memory made Paige smile for a second.

Last night, Paige had tossed and turned thinking about what to say to Emily. She knew she had just one chance of doing this right. Paige hadn't answered Emily's text last night and even now she was too afraid to ask for a time when she should go over to Emily's.

* * *

Emily woke up with a major headache. She knew it came from all the crying she had done last night. On top of that she probably had not drunk enough water. The headache was clearly a sign of dehydration. Emily went downstairs to get some water and something against the headache. Looking at last night's events, it all seemed far away. Paige hadn't answered her text but Emily had not expected her to.

Somehow Emily regretted offering to talk. She was still pretty hurt and didn't know if she was able to face Paige. But since she offered, there was no way around it without coming up with a stupid lie why she couldn't do it. She decided to make the best out of it. Emily took a look at the clock: 9:30. Emily estimated how long it would take to get ready and more important how long it would take for her headache would disappear. There was no way she could get through a tough talk with a headache.

 **Does 11 work for you? –Emily**

 **I'll be there. –P**

* * *

Paige rang the doorbell at precisely 11am. She was nervous as hell, her heart pounded.

Emily opened the door and greeted Paige with a simple "Hi."

"Hi." Paige smiled weakly. _As if a smile would make everything go away…_ Paige dipped her head and followed Emily in. Paige felt like she was on the way to her execution. This could only end badly, she thought.

"Do you want anything to drink?" Emily asked.

"Water please." Paige needed something to keep her hands busy with during the talk. A glass of water was perfect.

Paige sat down at the kitchen table, waiting for Emily to join her.

Emily handed Paige her glass and opened her mouth to speak but Paige interrupted.

"Let me go first please. I don't know if I can after you're done with me." Paige was sure that Emily was going to reject her, that Emily would say that she should go to hell and never call again. Paige felt like crying only by the thought of not even being able to talk to Emily again, let alone never seeing her again.

Emily nodded and sat down across from Paige. She needed some distance between her and Paige to get through this properly. Emily was nervous as well. She didn't know what to expect. Maybe Paige would come up with some lame excuse and she could send her home quickly. Or maybe Paige would really get to Emily with what she had to say. Emily wasn't prepared for the latter. She knew she had feelings for Paige but she didn't know how to handle them after last night.

"First, I wanna say I'm sorry about yesterday and I mean about everything." Paige looked at Emily but Emily's gaze was directed at the table.

"I'm sorry that I didn't tell you about Rachel any sooner. I can only try to explain." Paige was silent for a second. She tried to remember the words she had memorized for the last hour. She had prepared a speech that – in her opinion - would convince Emily to forgive her, maybe even to be with her. Paige had needed that to calm herself down. Now that speech was wiped from her mind. She had to this from her heat. Maybe that wasn't a bad thing but Paige knew that it would be hard for her.

"When Spencer called me on Sunday, I didn't wait a second to come here. I came here to be there for you, because I care for you. Deeply. Every word I said to your mother was true back then. I didn't want to get back together with you. I didn't even think about wanting to get back together with you. All I cared for was you feeling better." Paige paused for a moment to let her words sink in. She was completely honest here.

"Then after we spent Tuesday night at your house, I started thinking how nice it was to spent time with you. I needed to go home that night because I didn't want to do anything stupid."

"So you just told another lie instead of telling me what was going on." Emily stated, not angrily but devastated. But somehow she knew that she would probably have done the same thing.

"I had to. I didn't know what to think and I clearly didn't know how to felt. I didn't know what to do, so I went home. But I couldn't stop thinking about you after that, especially not after we went for that swim at Rosewood High the next day. You were so happy. God, I missed seeing you smile like that."

"I _was_ happy, yes." Emily said with a heavy voice.

Paige noticed the undertone in Emily's voice but decided to let it go.

"You opened my eyes when you took me to the picnic yesterday morning. Being there with you, back where it all began. I had to admit to myself that I still had feelings for you." _That I still love you._ "When you took my hand, I couldn't have felt any better. Feeling you skin on mine…"

Paige left the sentence unfinished because she was at a loss of words. She was fighting tears. Admitting to Emily what she just had and knowing that Emily probably wouldn't care anymore, it was almost too much for Paige.

"I honestly forgot about Rachel." Paige continued after taking a sip from her glass. "I know that makes me a bad person but yesterday, you were the only one I could think about. Then I got scared when you tried to kiss me. It opened my eyes and I knew I couldn't do it behind Rachel's back."

"But you decided to kiss me anyway not more than three hours later. It took you that long to decide that however you could do this behind your girlfriend's back."

"I couldn't not kiss you anymore, Em. I wanted to but I really couldn't. I needed to be close to you. I needed to feel you." The last words were barely noticeable for Emily. This was hard for Paige. She had never been one to talk about her feelings that openly but Paige knew that if she didn't, she would lose Emily forever.

Emily looked up because Paige had stopped talking. Emily knew Paige was fighting with herself.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I don't know. I missed the right time and when I did, it was already too late. I screwed up and I'm sorry." Paige's eyes were now filled with tears. She couldn't hold back anymore. The fear of losing Emily was taking over.

"The day at Rosewood High, when we were in the locker room afterwards, I came this close to kissing you." Emily held up her hand indicating how close it had been although Paige's head was down. "The way you made me feel that day was something I thought I would never experience in my live ever again. After all this time we spent together and apart, you knew what I needed to get back on my feet again. The time I spent with you was incredible, Paige. I thought: _Hey, that has to mean something_."

"It does, Emily. Believe me."

"Then how could you do this to me? I was falling for you, Paige. Remember when I came to your house after that whole fiasco with the flask? When I told you I came looking for you that night I was drunk? Last night, the way you kissed me made me feel like I had felt back then. I felt like I was where I belong." Emily swallowed. She as well was fighting the tears which filled her eyes. "Then you dropped that bomb of seeing someone and everything fell into pieces. Everything I thought we still had and dreamed that we could have, was shattered like glass."

Paige stood up and sat next to Emily. She took Emily's hand in hers and held it in complete silence. Emily didn't pull back. Paige closed her eyes and took a deep breath. _That's a good sign, isn't it?_

"Why did you hurt me like that?" Emily asked with an unsteady voice.

"I didn't mean to. Believe me." Paige said as convincing as she could.

"But you did." Emily still wasn't looking at Paige.

"And I'm truly sorry. What you felt was real, Emily. I felt it, too." With her finger Paige lifted up Emily's chin so that she would look at her. "I love you."


	17. Chapter 17

"Don't say that."

"I mean it. I love you, Emily. I never stopped loving you. I see that now. You clearly don't have to say it back. You don't have to say anything at all. You should just know how I feel about you."

Emily was still looking at Paige and Paige didn't turn away. She needed Emily to understand that every word she had just said was completely true. In the past two days, Paige had tried to figure out how she felt and had thought a lot about what she really wanted. Here in this moment, she was absolutely sure that Emily was _the one_ , the love of her life. Paige wanted to be with Emily no matter how complicated it would get. She had been too afraid to try long distance in the past but now she would do anything just to be with Emily.

"I'm done with Rachel. However this will end, I'm breaking up with her this weekend. I can't be with anyone if I'm in love with someone else. Maybe you will take me back, maybe you won't but at least I tried."

"Paige, I can't make that decision right now. This is too much to process."

"I get that and you don't have to. I said what I needed to say to you before I'm leaving. Now I'm willing to wait for how long it takes for you to forgive me and decide whether you want to be with me."

"It's not about forgiveness anymore. I can see past the fact that you didn't tell me sooner."

To Emily, it didn't matter anymore. Paige had told her before anything serious had happenend. That was enough for Emily in the clear light of the day. It was one of those messed up things Paige did from time to time. That was who she was and Emily had kind of liked that in the past.

"Important is what you told me tonight but I need to think about it. I know how difficult it is for you to talk about your feelings. So I really do appreciate your honesty. All I can say right now is that I loved spending this week with you. I really missed being around you and I'm definitely gonna miss having you here."

Emily smiled at Paige. A smile that would have weakened Paige's knees if she wouldn't be sitting on a chair already. A smile that gave Paige hope that maybe everything would be fine someday.

"When do you have to be at the airport tomorrow?"

"Flight is taking off at 3:30pm, so I need to be there at 1:30." _In not much more than 24 hours…_

"I can take you to the airport if you want." Emily offered. She definitely wanted to see Paige before she left. Even if she didn't know what to make out of all of this, Emily didn't want to let Paige leave like this.

"You don't have to, really. I don't want to put a burden on you."

"I wouldn't have offered if I didn't want to. Please, let me take you."

"I don't know if I can say goodbye to you at the airport again, but I take the risk."

"It won't be as bad as it had been last time, I promise."

Paige smiled. She was thankful for Emily's reaction to all of this. It was better than she had expected and there was definitely hope. Maybe Emily would see that they were meant to be in the next couple of days or maybe weeks. Paige was willing to give her all the time she needed to figure everything out. She wasn't afraid of the 3000 miles between them anymore, especially with Pepperdine in the picture. Paige was optimistic.

"I give you some time to think now. Thanks for listening to me, Emily. It means a lot to me."

"It meant a lot to me too."

Emily followed Paige to the front door. Paige turned around but she didn't know in which way she should say goodbye. A kiss was obviously inappropriate. A hug would probably be awkward. Luckily Emily decided before Paige and pulled her into a hug. It was close and longer than Paige expected. They rubbed each other's back softly for a while. It didn't felt awkward at all, it felt pretty good. Paige could tell that Emily didn't want to let her go. Paige wanted to hold on to this moment. She wanted to take the feeling of Emily being close to her with her.

"I call you about tomorrow, okay?" Emily said after she released Paige from the hug.

Paige nodded. "Okay. I guess, I see you tomorrow then."

* * *

On the way back to Hanna's, Paige decided to call Pam. It was long overdue and she had some explaining to do after what she had promised last time.

"Paige?"

"Hi, Pam. Yes it's me."

"To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I need to talk to you about Emily… and me. Emily probably told you what's going on here already."

"Part of it, yes."

"Look, I know what I promised to you the last time I called and I have been very honest with your daughter in the past hour but part of that promise is that I'm honest with you as well. You trusted me with your daughter so it's only fair to let you know as well."

"I appreciate that, Paige. But what exactly is going on?"

"I don't know what Emily told you exactly but you should know, I realized that Emily still means a lot to me. Don't get me wrong, I'm not playing with her feelings. I love her."

"Does she know?"

"We just had an honest and open talk. I told her that I love her and that I want to make things work between us. It's up to her now."

"If that's what she wants, if it's what you both want, then I'm happy for you two. Wayne and I always thought you were good for our Emily and I still believe that. But I can just repeat what I already said the last time. She's in a vulnerable place right now. A week with you doesn't change that. On top of that, you're leaving tomorrow. That puts 3000 miles between you."

"I know but I'm not afraid of it anymore. Emily and I are meant to be together. Look at the history we have. We always ended up back together again. That means something. I'm not going to ignore that anymore."

"And I will support you wherever I can, if you two are absolutely sure that this is what you want. If there is a possibility of you or Emily hanging onto something what belongs to the past, then I have to ask you to let this go."

"I understand that but believe me, I'm absolutely sure that this isn't something temporary. At least not for me. If Emily feels differently, it's okay. I won't pressure her into this"

"You're a good person, Paige. Emily knows that, too. I'm sure you two will figure it out."

"Thanks, Pam."

"Thank you for taking care of my daughter."

"You're welcome."

Pam and Paige said goodbye and Paige went back to Hanna's. Hanna still wasn't home from school, so Paige decided to take a run to clear her mind.

* * *

"So what do you wanna do for your last night in Rosewood?" Hanna asked. She was at The Brew with Paige.

"Um, nothing I guess."

"I don't accept that. I don't know when I will see you again so we have to do something special tonight."

"I don't really feel like going out."

"Oh come on."

"How about pizza?" Paige suggested half-seriously.

"I had pizza last night, remember?"

"I guess we could hang out at The Grille. What about Aria and Spencer?"

"I think Aria's with Mr. Fitz – Ezra- and Spencer mentioned something about wanting to look if Em is okay."

Paige nodded. Spencer had been the one to be there last night. It seemed right, that she was looking after her after the big talk this morning.

"So it's just us then. You're up to that?"

"Of course I am. The Grille it is then. Maybe I can get Aria to come. Ezra will still be here tomorrow."

* * *

It was indeed Aria, Hanna and Paige who met that evening at The Grille. For Paige it was nice not to worry for one night. She needed to get her mind off of Emily, at least for some hours. Saying goodbye to her tomorrow would be hard enough. They spent the evening talking about the old times in Rosewood, college and general stuff.

"So Paige, are you going to Prom?" Hanna asked.

"I don't know. I'm kind of glad school will be over soon. I can't wait to get out of there and do something I really wanna do."

"You're still going to Stanford?"

"Yes, it will be awesome. They have this great swim team. It's so much better than Rosewood High."

"Are you swimming at your current school?" Aria asked.

"I am but the team is just average. I'm training a lot on my own to keep up with the standard I need to succeed at Stanford."

"You will do great."

"It's a shame Em won't be able to experience that. Stanford was our dream. I've seen her in the water 2 days ago. It's where she belongs."

"Do you think there's a chance of her being able to swim competitively again?"

"I don't know. Maybe but she would have to train extreme hard. She's been out of the routine so long. Did she mention something?"

"It's not that we have been talking a lot lately. She hasn't before though." Hanna explained.

"So how are things with you two?" Aria asked.

"I guess, I don't really know. She knows about Rachel and that I'm going to break up with her." Paige started.

"Tell her the important stuff." Hanna jumped in.

"How is breaking up with Rachel not important to the story?" Aria asked curiously.

"It isn't if the story ends with me telling her that I love her."

"Wow, you did?"

"I had to. I messed up by kissing her and telling her about Rachel afterwards."

"Wow again. What did Emily say?"

"She needs to think about it. She definitely has feelings for me but I'm still living 3000 miles away. It's what has broken us up before. I understand that she needs to be sure."

"You two belong together."

Their conversation was interrupted by Hanna's phone beeping.

"It's a text from Emily. She wants to have breakfast tomorrow morning."

"I got it as well." Aria said and held up her phone. She and Hanna looked at Paige who checked her phone.

"Guess, I'm not invited."

"Please, she will invite you."

"It's okay, Hanna. I'm glad you guys are getting along better. Emily offered to take me to the airport. I see her then."

* * *

That night when Paige lay in bed, her phone display lightened up. Paige picked the phone up and saw a text from Emily.

 **U up?**

 **Barely…**

 **Can I call you?**

 **Yes.**

Seconds later the phone rang and Paige picked up.

"Hey, what are you doing up so late?"

"I wanted to talk to you."

"Okay." Paige was confused.

"I know you spent the evening with Hanna and Aria and I'm sorry I didn't text you about breakfast."

"It's okay, Em. I get that you need time away from me to think. You don't have to apologize."

"No Paige. I need time with you. I will have enough of alone time after you leave."

Paige smiled to herself. Hearing Emily admit that made her happy.

"So please join us for breakfast. Will you?"

"I'll be there."

"You're smiling right now, don't you?" Emily knew she was.

"Would it be so bad?"

"Of course not.

"Thanks for inviting me, Em."

"See you tomorrow. Sleep well."

"You too." _I love you,_ Paige added in her head.

* * *

 **A/N: These last two chapters had been everything but easy to write. It's hard to come up with those emotions when all you want is for them to be together. I hope you still liked the chapters despite all the sadness I had to put into it. I promise there will be happier times for them!  
**

 **Thanks for reading. Please review.**


	18. Chapter 18

Emily had put a lot of effort into preparing the breakfast she had invited Spencer, Aria, Hanna _and_ Paige to. The five of them had a really good time talking, joking and laughing. All in all, there was an easy and cheerful atmosphere around the house. The four girls were happy to see Emily in such a good mood after everything she had been through. Hanna was a bit cocky because bringing in Paige as reinforcement had turned out to be such a smart idea. Emily was also planning to be back in school on Monday and that was a good sign of Emily being better permanently.

"So I think we should get those two some time to say goodbye properly." Spencer suggested after two hours and looked at Aria and Hanna for approval.

"Yeah, right. I forgot that I promised to be over at Ezra's anyway." Aria replied.

"I'm coming with you. Well, not to Ezra's but outside in general." Hanna said laughing.

"Oh please, you don't have to leave." Emily said but she was kind of looking forward to spend time with Paige alone before she had to leave.

"Yah, we do." Spencer said and smiled knowingly at Emily. "Let us just help you clear the table."

Emily was about to protest but she knew there was no point. Her friends would help anyway and that was why she had the best friends in the world. Emily was glad she had hosted this breakfast and even more glad that she was on good terms with them again.

After Aria, Spencer and Hanna said their goodbyes to Paige and left there was an awkward moment of silence between Paige and Emily. They both didn't know what to say but Emily knew it was up to her to come up with something. Paige was keeping her promise not to pressure her.

"Are you okay with me being here alone with you? I know I promised you some time to think." Paige asked insecurely while looking at her feet.

Emily nodded. "I'm kinda happy I have you to myself before you leave."

"You are?" Paige was surprised. She had a smile on her face but she still didn't dare to look at Emily.

"I'm not going to see you for a long time." Emily said in a sad voice.

"You do want to see me again?" Paige still didn't know what to make out of all of this. Paige looked up but now it was Emily who was looking at her feet. This was crazy, Paige thought. Yesterday she had feared that she would never be able to talk to Emily again.

"Of course I do, silly. Whatever will happen between you and me, I want you in my life, Paige. In which way, I don't know but what I learned from this week is that it is impossible not to have you in my life. I realized that my life is so much brighter when you're in it." Emily smiled at Paige and hoped that her words would take Paige's insecurity away.

"Come with me." Emily said suddenly and took Paige's hand, much to her surprise. Emily led her upstairs to her bedroom. Once they were in the room, Emily let go of Paige's hand and sat down in her window seat. She held out her arm, inviting Paige to join her.

"What is this, Em?" Paige asked with a confused look on her face.

"Don't look like that. I'm not biting." Emily was serious. "Please?"

Paige was still not sure if she should. Yesterday Emily was barely looking at her and Paige still wanted to give Emily space to think about everything she had said 24 hours ago. Being held by Emily wasn't exactly what she had in mind by making that promise.

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely." Emily said determinedly, still looking at Paige.

Paige couldn't resist Emily's beautiful eyes. She sat down, her back against Emily's front. Paige let her head rest on Emily's chest and Emily put her arms around Paige, letting her hands rest on Paige's arms. Paige closed her eyes to fully take in this wonderful feeling of Emily holding her. To her it had seemed impossible to ever sit here like this again.

"This feels good." Emily said in a low voice and let her head come to rest on Paige's. There had been several evenings when they had been sitting like this, watching the stars on the night sky. Now Emily was thinking about how easy it would be to get it back permanently. She would just have to say a word and Paige would be taking her back with open arms. But it wasn't as easy as it sounded. Emily didn't know if she was ready for this whole long distance thing. Even if she was going to Pepperdine, there would still be a 6 hour drive between them.

"I wish you could stay." Emily admitted sadly. "I wish I could figure this out together with you."

"I know but maybe distance isn't such a bad thing. You will be able to look at this without me hanging around every second and clouding your mind."

"I hope you're right."

"Of course I am. This way you won't to jump to a conclusion only because I'm in your face all the time. Take as long as you need. You know I will be waiting for you."

Emily was about to say _I love you_ but bit her tongue. This wasn't the right moment and she wanted to say it when she was absolutely sure about it. So she stayed quiet and ran her hand softly up and down Paige's right arm.

"Are you sure about school?" Paige asked in concern.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"Are you sure it's not too soon?"

"I can't miss anymore class. Finals are around the corner and I'm already behind."

"I don't want you to rush back to class only because of that, you know? I'm sure Spencer will help you do this from home if you ask her."

"Have you studied with her? It's impossible! She's lecturing my all the time, pointing out my weaknesses."

"I'm sure she will give you her notes at least. That's gotta be helping."

"I will ask her but I need to go back to class. Mr. Hackett won't grand me a leave of absence forever."

"I'm sure he would understand. But if you're feeling good enough to go back, I support it and you know, you can always call me. I'm not as smart as Spencer and we're not learning 100% the same stuff but I can try."

"Thank you, Paige. For everything."

"Sure. You can always count on me, Em."

They were sitting in the windows seat in a comfortable silence. They both tried to savour every minute because soon they would be apart. It was hard not to think about it. It was almost harder than the last time. Last time they knew what was coming, that they would break up eventually. This time they were about to start something. Paige was hopeful and excited. She was happy and grateful. She wanted to stay and rebuild this relationship. Having to leave was a complication but she still believed that there was a useful side to this. Emily needed to process everything that had happened this week and more important, she needed to focus on finals. They had enough time to figure out what they wanted to be.

"I have to swing by Hanna's to pick up my stuff before we head to the airport." Paige said after a while.

"In that case, maybe we need to leave soon."

"Okay." Paige agreed sadly.

* * *

The drive to the airport passed in silence. Both Emily and Paige were lost in their thoughts. They both fought the urge to cry. Soon Emily parked the car and accompanied Paige to the check-in counter. There were only a few people in the line. They decided to grab a coffee after and looked for quiet place. They tried to spend most of the time with small talk to avoid the fact that they ran out of their precious time together.

"You really have to go, do you?" Emily asked rhetorically when there was no point of pretending anymore.

"Em… "

"I know, I'm sorry."

Paige pulled Emily into a quick one-armed hug.

"We text and talk on the phone. I even have Skype now. Maybe we can visit each other after finals." Paige said without thinking about it. Maybe visiting was too much for now. But then, Emily had said she wanted to see Paige again.

Emily smiled weakly. She appreciated Paige's effort to make her feel better.

"We'll make it work." Paige promised. "I have to pass security soon. I think it's time…"

Emily nodded and a tear ran down her cheek. Paige made a step toward Emily. She wiped away the tear with her thumb.

"Please don't cry." Paige begged.

"Call me when you land, okay?"

"I will." Paige dipped her head. This was it. Time to say goodbye.

When Paige was about to take a step backwards, Emily slowly leaned in and pressed her lips on Paige's. She was aware of taking Paige by surprise, so she laid one hand on Paige's neck and pulled her deeper into the kiss.

"Don't forget about me." Emily whispered when her lips separated from Paige's.

"I never could't."

Paige stepped away from Emily. She really needed to go now if she didn't want to miss her flight.

She walked away backwards and let go of Emily's hand as late as possible.

"I'll call you." Paige promised again. "I love you."

She finally turned around and walked toward security.


	19. Chapter 19

**Thanks again for reviewing, everybody! You really keep me going :)**

 **Actually _siophiefandom_ had a point with them being confused, so I picked that up for this chapter. Please enjoy reading!**

* * *

Paige stepped out of the plane and searched for her phone. She was tired and had a headache. She hadn't been able to sleep on the plane because of the little boy in the seat next to her who had been telling her everything about his exciting vacation for hours. Paige was looking forward to sleeping in her own bed. She thanked herself for flying back on Saturday, not Sunday. This way she would have a day left to herself tomorrow before going back to school on Monday.

Paige turned on her phone and saw she had a missed call and a voicemail from Emily. Paige listened to Emily's voice while she was walking over to baggage claim.

 _Hey, I know your phone's turned off and you won't be hearing this 'til you land but I really need to say this. I know I was behaving really confusing the last couple of days and I'm sorry. I have all these emotions and I don't know how to handle them. I wasn't really thinking and listened to my heart. Especially when I kissed you earlier. I didn't want to take advantage of your feelings for me or make things harder for you… So, I'm sorry if I made you feel weird or anything. I guess, I talk to you later then. Bye…_

Paige smiled. She loved how thoughtful Emily was. It was true, Emily's behavior had been confusing but Paige knew that it wasn't Emily's fault. It was the situation itself. Paige herself knew what she felt but she had not thought it through completely. Anyhow, it was okay for her for now. Not a minute she had thought that Emily was taking advantage of anything. In the contrary, Paige was now thinking that maybe she had been taking advantage of Emily by sitting with her in her windows seat and letting Emily kiss her at the airport. It was complicated and made Paige's head ache even more. She would talk to Emily about it – tomorrow.

When Paige had promised to call Emily back, she had not considered time difference. _It must be 1am over there_ ; Paige thought when she did the math. Emily was probably already asleep and Paige didn't want to wake her by calling her as promised. While she was waiting for her bag Paige texted Emily with one eye kept on the luggage that was moving past her. She was eager not to miss her bag because her mother was probably already waiting outside in the parking lot.

 **Hey, I landed safely and now waiting for my stuff. Totally forgot about time difference and I don't want to wake you now. I got your message and: don't worry :-) Talk to you in the morning. Sweet dreams. –P**

When her bag came along, Paige grabbed it quickly and went outside to look for her mother. She couldn't wait to get home. Paige spotted her mother's car not far from the entrance.

"Hey, there you are." Mrs. McCullers said and hugged her daughter with one arm after she got in the car.

"Baggage claim was crowded and my bag came in a bit late. Sorry." Paige said unemotionally and put her seat belt on. She leaned back and closed her eyes for a moment.

"Are you alright, Honey? You don't look so good."

"I'm fine. Just tired and a little headache. Can we just go home please?"

"Of course." Mrs. McCullers started the engine and left the parking lot.

Paige's phone buzzed when a text from Emily came in.

 **Just woke up for a minute. Get home safely. Talk to you tomorrow. Good night :) –E**

Paige smiled briefly and hoped her mother wouldn't notice but she had already picked up on it.

"Who was that from?" She asked curious.

"Just Emily."

"And _just Emily_ is making you smile like that." It was not a question.

"Yes she is, Mom." Paige hoped that her mother would get the hint. Paige didn't want to talk and she sure didn't know why her mother was so curious all of the sudden. She almost never was talking to her mother about her romantic life.

"I'm glad you had good time." was all Mrs. McCullers said.

"Thanks, Mom."

They spent the rest of the drive in silence and Paige was glad about it. Back home Paige took a quick shower and went to bed.

* * *

"You look terrible." Emily said to Paige who was sitting in front of her laptop with a coffee cup in her hand. Emily had asked her to video-chat instead of just talking on the phone. Paige was happy she would be able to actually see Emily but since Paige had just woken up half an hour ago and had just managed to make herself coffee, she knew that she was probably looking like she had been in bed all week. Now she wished she had taken a shower first but it was too late. The only good thing was that Emily already knew what Paige looked like coming just out of the bed. Plus, Paige wanted to let Emily know that this time was different than the last. This time she would not ignore any of Emily's text or calls. She would not give her the impression that she wasn't serious about their relationship.

"Thanks, Em. Maybe that's because I just got up and I haven't slept that well last night." Paige replied sarcastically and hoped at the same time that she wasn't overstepping.

"Everything alright?" Emily asked in concern.

"I'm okay. Just feeling a bit under the weather. I went to bed with this headache and it kept me from sleeping most of the night."

"We can talk another time if you want." Emily offered.

"No, please. I'm fine. I have coffee." Paige joked and held up her cup for Emily to see. Emily had to smile.

"Thanks for texting my last night though."

"I'm sorry if I woke you up. I didn't mean to."

"No I was up for a moment anyway and took a look on my phone. I went to sleep right after texting you back. So don't worry."

"So about that message you left me yesterday." Paige decided to dive in directly. "Don't worry, okay? I wasn't thinking any of what you said. In fact, I was wondering if I was taking advantage of you by letting you hold and kiss me."

"No, Paige! I absolutely knew what I was doing. When I asked you to sit with me, I wanted for us to have this moment we could remember while we were apart. I wanted for us to be able to remember what being close to the other felt like."

"I will definitely remember." Paige smiled by the thought of it.

"And the kiss just felt right to me. I needed that kiss to get me through the time without you. I needed to feel that this wasn't like the last time I said goodbye to you at this airport."

Paige was almost afraid to ask but she did anyway. "Did you?"

"This kiss yesterday was nothing like the one we shared months ago. There was nothing like breaking up or saying goodbye forever in it."

"It's incredible to hear you say that. Believe me."

"Thanks again for everything, Paige. Without you I would still be in bed wearing my dad's army jacket."

"I haven't really done anything. You got on your feet on your own. I just helped a little."

"You're the best." Emily said with a huge smile on her face. "I let you get to your Sunday stuff, okay? I kept you busy for too long."

Paige replied with a smile. "You're welcome, Em. Anytime, really. Talk to you soon, okay?"

Emily nodded and ended the call.

* * *

All too soon it was Monday morning and Emily was getting ready for school. She was a bit nervous. Not only did she miss a lot of class but everybody probably knew about her father passing away. All the teachers did of course and Emily didn't want to earn looks of pity from anyone. She was back in school to get ready for finals next spring and that was what she would focus on. Being with Paige left Emily with energy and motivation. She would work as hard as she could until Christmas to be up to speed again. Then she would get ready for finals by handling the current stuff. Emily grabbed her back and headed off to school.

The girls didn't have class together before lunch so they met for lunchbreak in the cafeteria.

"How was class, Em?" Spencer asked.

"I'm so far behind I didn't even know what they were talking about half the time." Emily was playing with her food instead of eating it. She wasn't hungry anymore.

"It's your first day. It will get better." Aria said trying to calm Emily down.

"I can help if you want." Spencer offered.

"That's what Paige suggested. Maybe I can borrow your notes?"

"Yah, of course. I bring them by after school."

"Thanks, Spence."

"So how was it with Paige?" Hanna asked.

"You wanted to ask that for a long time, didn't you?" Spencer joked and got a special look from Hanna.

"So?"

"It was nice."

"Oh come on. I can see that smile all over your face, Em. Don't even try to hide it."

"Okay, okay. It was perfect. Except fir the leaving part, of course."

"Details, I need details!"

"Usually I'm no one to kiss and tell, but…"

"You kissed?" Aria asked in surprise.

"We spent the morning in my windows seat. Me holding her."

"Awww."

"Then at the airport, I kissed her goodbye."

"Does this mean you're together now?" Hanna asked excited.

"No, we're not. It's not that I don't want to but I'm afraid we won't work. I can't go through it, losing her again."

"I get that but if you do love her, don't you think it's worth trying? Paige seemed really serious about it." Spencer tried. If she was being honest, she wanted for Paige and Emily to work it out. She hadn't been the biggest fan of their relationship at first but Paige had stood by Emily's side through the most awful things. In the last couple of days, Spencer had seen how good Paige was for Emily. She was sure that they would last this time.

"Paige's really serious. She is in love with me. She said that she never stopped loving me."

"I get that you want to be cautious but if you ask me, you already decided." Spencer noted.

"I don't know, Spence. I think I just wait and see how the next weeks will be."

* * *

Late that evening when Emily lay in bed she received a text from Paige.

 **Just wanted to say good night. Hope you had a good first day back in school ;-) –P**

Emily's heart jumped because of all the happiness she felt right in that moment. Paige was really trying to make this work. Emily's heart melted.

 **It's just too much but Spencer gave me her notes. Getting started tomorrow. Thanks for asking! Have a good night :) –E**


	20. Chapter 20

The next few weeks were passing smoothly. Emily was working hard to get back on track at school and even allowed Spencer to help her studying. Spencer had almost begged her to let her help and one day when Emily couldn't hear it anymore, she had decided to give it a try. Much to Emily's surprise, Spencer wasn't bossy or lecturing Emily all the time. Spencer honored Emily's new found effort by truly helping her instead of showing off how smart she was and it was working out for both of them. Emily was getting through with her stack of paper more quickly than she had anticipated and Spencer was learning where her weak spots for finals were (not that there were many) by explaining every topic to Emily. They actually were having fun on their study sessions.

Paige was showing Emily how serious she was about her feelings by keeping in touch with her. Paige was ashamed of how she had behaved after she had first moved to California. Shutting Emily out right after she had left must have killed Emily, Paige now thought. So she told herself that this time would be completely different. They talked on regular basis, a phone call or video chat once a week, mostly on weekends when they both had some free time. They were talking about their weeks and what was going on in their lives. Paige even told Emily about her break-up with Rachel which had gone not as bad as Paige had feared. She had explained to Rachel that she still had deep feelings for her ex-girlfriend on the East Coast. Rachel had expected something like that after Paige had left for Rosewood and telling her just after she had checked in at Hanna's and not before she had taken the flight in the first place. Since they had not been that serious yet, Rachel was sad of course but there were no hard feelings.

When they weren't talking on the phone or Skype on weekends, Paige sent Emily a text every evening to wish her a good night. They weren't meaningful texts but just simple 'Hope you had a nice day. Sleep well' or 'Sweet dreams' texts. Although they weren't meaningful, they were very special to Emily. Every night she lay in her bed with her phone on the nightstand waiting for Paige's text to come in. After answering with a brief text, Emily would turn the light out and fall asleep with a smile on her face.

So basically everything was great – until Thanksgiving came along.

Emily was visiting her mother in Killeen, Texas. She had found a non-stop flight from Philadelphia to Austin where her mother had picked her up on Monday. Emily would stay for the whole week since school was off until the following Monday. Emily was happy to see her mother, though. They had only talked on the phone since she had been in Killeen for her dad's funeral. This also meant that she hadn't been to her dad's grave since. Being around in her parents' house made Emily a bit sad. There was clearly someone missing and grief was too present again.

Since Emily's arrival on Monday, Pam and Emily had grown used to living together again and were working around the house like old times in Rosewood when Wayne had been on base in Fort Hood. It was nice for both of them to have someone around although it would be only for a week. Emily had met some of Pam's new found friends and neighbors in her first days at her mother's house. For Emily it was good to know that her mother wasn't alone, sitting in the living room and crying over pictures of her recent deceased husband.

Thanksgiving was hard for both Pam and Emily so they had decided early on to invite some neighbors and friends who had no other plans to keep their minds from the fact there was an important person missing this year's Thanksgiving. Emily helped her mother grocery shopping and cleaning the house. Pam had always been known for wanting to be the perfect host and she had never disappointed anyone. Preparing dinner was Pam's masterpiece and since Emily's kitchen skills were basically non-existent she was allowed to do some minor tasks like cutting vegetables.

Dinner went pretty smoothly and everybody did their best to keep up the joyful atmosphere although they all knew that Pam and Emily were missing their beloved husband and father. But all in their entire plan had worked and Pam and Emily sank exhausted onto the couch after everyone had left and the cleaning had been done.

"This was actually kind of nice." Emily said and pulled her feet up on the couch. She was tired from all the preparations before dinner and dinner itself. Her mother must have told her friends a lot about her daughter because everyone was happy to finally meet her in person. Emily had to do a lot of small talk all through dinner but she wasn't complaining. She knew it made her mother proud and happy.

"It was. They really loved you."

"Only because you told them all the stories about cute little Emmy." Emily laughed. "You probably pull out the photo albums from time to time."

"Can you blame me? You were such cute little girl." Pam smiled. "Now you are a beautiful young lady."

"Nah, don't exaggerate." Emily waved her mother's compliment aside.

"Seriously, Emmy. I'm proud of you. You managed to get back on track after your dad died all on your own and you're working so hard to keep up with school. I know it's a lot to handle for a young woman but you can be proud of yourself."

"Thanks, Mom. But you know, I had a lot of help getting where I am right now. Spencer is really helping me with all the school stuff. Without her I would probably still be working on the right learning schedule instead of actually studying. And then there is Paige who really got me out of bed. I wouldn't be where I am without her."

Pam smiled at her daughter. She saw the light in her eyes when she was talking about Paige.

"I really thought she was there to make a move on you. I'm sorry I misjudged her and questioned her intentions."

"It's alright, Mom. I wasn't a fan of her being there either when I first saw her. I kicked her out of the house, remember?" Emily dipped her head because thinking of it made her feel ashamed. "Well, she forgave me for that. I'm sure there are no hard feelings for you being protective of your only daughter."

"She forgave you because she's in love with you." Pam smiled knowingly.

"You know?" Emily wasn't really surprised because Paige had talked to her mother before. Since Paige was willing to make things work, she probably had talked to her mother again.

"She talked to me after you two had the talk."

"What did she say?" Emily asked curiously.

"I don't know if I should tell you, but I guess she pretty much told you the same thing herself. Paige loves you and I think she is really serious about your relationship. I know she didn't want to work it out after she moved to California but I think she knows what she wants now."

"She really wants for us to last."

"What do you think?"

"I honestly don't know. I have thought about it a lot and I know how I feel about her but I'm afraid this whole long distance thing will keep us from being happy. If I open myself up to her again in this way, I don't think I can get over losing her again."

"I totally understand, Honey. You know your father and I have spent a lot of time apart and it wasn't always easy for me. I'm sure it wasn't easy for him either but if you are truly meant for each other, you will get through it. Your father and I had some bumps in the road but in the end, we were meant to be." Pam said with a sad smile on her face. She was missing her husband. "If you ask me - and that's only my impression – you and Paige are good for each other. You managed to get through a lot together. Look at you two, you still love each other after all these months apart."

"How…?"

"Emmy, I see the look on your face when you talk about her."

Emily smiled. She knew how her mother used to look at her father. It was probably the same look, Emily thought.

Pam got up and left the room for a second. Soon she returned with a dusty photo album in her hand and sat down beside her daughter.

"I think you haven't seen these before. They're some early ones of your dad and me." Pam explained and opened the album.

For the next hour or so Pam and Emily got lost in old family photos. After looking through the one album, Pam looked for other family albums. They laughed a lot and cried some tears. They absolutely lost track of time.

"I think I need to call it a night for now." Pam said after the fifth album and yawned.

"I'm tired as well. I had a great time tonight, Mom. Thank you." Emily gave her mother a tight hug.

"I have to thank you, Emmy." Pam gave her daughter a kiss on the cheek before saying good night and going upstairs.

Emily went to the guest room where she was staying for the week. It was basically her own room although officially it was declared as the guest room. Once she got out of her clothes and into a comfortable shirt, all of today's stress was falling from her. In bed, she couldn't help but cry. As great as the time with her mother was, Emily missed her father just as much. She missed his deep but loving voice, his warm and caring hugs. Emily even missed fighting with him. Thanksgiving reminded her how deep her grief went. Thanksgiving was the time where they usually decorated the house for Christmas. They hadn't done it this year which pointed out that there an important member of the family was gone. Emily couldn't help it. Tears were falling like rain now. She almost didn't see her phone display lighten up.

For a second Emily thought about letting Paige's call go to voicemail but decided otherwise. She took a deep breath and wiped away her tears.

"Hey, why are you up so late?" Emily did her best trying to hide that she had been crying.

"Couldn't sleep." Paige said briefly because it wasn't important. She noticed Emily had been crying. "What's wrong? Is everything okay with your mom?"

"I guess I haven't done a good job hiding it, did I?" Emily joked sadly.

"I know you pretty well, Em."

"We had this really nice evening tonight. We invited some neighbors and friends and Mom cooked this amazing dinner for all of us." Emily explained. "Afterwards, when everyone was home, we went through some old photo albums. I just went to bed and then it came over me. I was thinking about my dad and how we used to decorate early for Christmas. From one second to another, I was crying rivers. Then you called."

"Oh, Em. I'm so sorry. I can come out there if you need me." Paige offered and was absolutely serious about it.

"Are you crazy? It must be a 7 or 8 hour flight. Don't even mention driving!"

"I'm serious." Paige said determinedly.

"I know and it's really cute of you to offer but I'll be alright in the morning. It was just a bit too much today, I guess."

"Are you sure?" Paige wasn't convinced.

"I will be fine, really." Honestly, Emily had already calmed down by hearing Paige's voice. "You're crazy sometimes, you know that?"

Emily could hear Paige laugh. "I guess I am."

"So how come you can't sleep?"

"We had this party at our house. It was my parent's turn to host Thanksgiving this year. It's some kind of tradition here and since they joined the circle after last Thanksgiving, they offered. I just need to calm down a bit after all the excitement tonight."

"I'm glad you decided to call."

"I missed you." Paige confessed.

"I miss you too." Emily wished for Paige to be there. She wanted to cry in her arms. She wanted to be held by her until she fell asleep. But it was definitely crazy for her to come out here for one or two nights. She would have to wait for them to be close again.

"How is studying with Spencer going?" Paige asked, still smiling about Emily's previous statement.

"We are making good progress. I think I will be through with everything I missed before Christmas. I think I'm going to extend my Christmas vacation to Texas. It's really nice to be with my mom again. I totally missed her. After Christmas, I can concentrate on preparing for finals."

"I'm so proud of you."

"You're not the only one who thinks that tonight. My mom said the same thing tonight." Emily joked.

"She's right."

"Thanks Paige. I'm actually feeling a lot better now that I talked to you."

"I'm glad I could help. Call me if you need anything else, okay?"

"I will." _How on earth do I deserve her?_ , Emily thought. "And Paige?"

"Yes, Em?"

"Don't even think about booking a flight okay? I'm fine or at least I will be tomorrow."

"You just know me too well! Fine, I will stay where I am."

"You think, you can sleep now?" Emily asked.

"You definitely helped me calm down."

"Then I better won't keep you from sleeping any longer."

"What about you? Are you able to sleep now?"

"I'm exhausted and I fell so much better now. I think I'm going to be asleep within 10 minutes."

"I wish I could be there with you." It was bold, but Paige missed Emily a lot and she would've done everything to fall asleep right next to Emily.

"My mom would never allow it." Emily said because she didn't know what to say.

"You have a talent for ruining a moment, you know that?

"I'm sorry, Paige. I didn't know what to say." Emily admitted honestly. "I really miss you, Paige."

"I miss you to, Emily."

"Good night, Paige."

"Good night."


	21. Chapter 21

One week after Emily's return from Texas, Emily found a large envelope in her mailbox when she came home from school. It seemed that there was something soft inside. Emily wondered about who would send her something and what it would be. She was sure that she had not left anything at her mother's house that needed to be send to her immediately and before Christmas. Emily couldn't think of anybody else.

When she took a closer look at the envelope to find out who the sender was, her heart started to race. _Paige McCullers_. Emily's heart was filled with excitement. She couldn't wait and needed to open it right where she was.

Emily pulled out a shirt and unfolded it. When she recognized the shirt, her lips formed a huge grin. With her thumb Emily touched the stitching on the shirt's collar. She had patched up a small hole before sending it to Paige after their break up.

It had been her favorite shirt for a long time. Paige had left it at Emily's when she stayed with her for a while during their relationship. Since then Paige had never picked it up. So it stayed with Emily and became her favorite. It haf always given her the feeling of being close to Paige. When Paige had left for California, all Emily had had left of Paige was this shirt. She had held on to it for the feeling of being close to her ex-(girlfriend) but she had soon realized that it was definitely over between them. There was no point in keeping it. Emily couldn't believe that Paige had kept it.

She searched for a note from Paige and wasn't disappointed.

 ** _Dear Emily,_**

 ** _I'm glad my little surprised arrived. I know you get lonely sometimes and I'm sorry that I can't be there with you when it happens. Therefore take my shirt which you loved so much for comfort. Know that I'm always with you although I'm not always by your side._**

 ** _Love,_**

 ** _Paige_**

Emily was moved to tears. _This is super cute_ , she thought. Emily pulled the shirt up to her face. She picked up a scent Paige's perfume and her heart skipped a beat. Emily closed her eyes. This was almost too much for her and she needed to sit down. She was overwhelmed by Paige's thoughtfulness.

Emily pulled out her phone. She knew that Paige had swim practice this afternoon, so there was no point in calling her right now. Instead, Emily just sent a brief Thanks you – text and decided to call Paige later that day.

Before Emily could call Paige in the evening, Paige surprised her with a call after swim practice.

"Hi there." Paige said when Emily picked up.

"Hey!" Emily nearly shouted. "You're really crazy you know that?"

"For calling you?" Paige played innocent although she knew that Emily was referring to the shirt.

"I'm talking about the shirt, silly." Emily said as if Paige needed an explanation.

"Oh yes. I totally forgot about that!" Paige played along but had to laugh a second later.

"That's so cute, Paige. I can't believe you kept that shirt for all this time."

"I couldn't let go of it. I kept the other stuff as well. I tried to throw it all out when I received you package but I couldn't do it. I may have thought that I moved on with my life after I had shut you out but I guess, deep down I knew that it wasn't over yet."

"That's why I held on to it for so long. I felt close to you by wearing it. I couldn't let go of you and the relationship we had." Emily admitted.

"I'm sorry, Em."

"Can you promise me something?"

"Of course." Paige was confused and wondered what was about to come.

"Promise me that you won't apologize to me anymore for the way we broke up. I know you're sorry and I think we can leave that behind us now."

"I promise." Paige said seriously and asked in a more cheerful voice "So you still like the shirt?"

"Of course I do!"

"Thanks for stitching it up by the way."

"Nah, don't mention it. It was the least I could do after wearing it all those years."

What was meant to be a quick Thank you – call turned out to be a much longer call, similar to those regular weekend phone calls. Paige and Emily enjoyed talking to the other and hearing the other's voice. It didn't matter what they were talking about. They talked about everything and nothing.

"Was that your stomach?" Emily asked some time when she heard a loud mumbling sound.

"Maybe…"

"You have to eat, Paige!"

"You sound like my mom. After practice I came straight home and called you. I couldn't wait."

"So it's my fault, I guess." Emily joked. To be honest, she was a little hungry herself.

"Nah, I wouldn't go that far but you're right. I better get something to eat before I starve to death."

* * *

The weeks before Christmas went by in no time. Paige kept training hard. For one it was much needed to be prepared for Stanford's standards but to Paige it was also a much appreciated diversion from all the learning she had to do for finals.

Emily as well kept working for school. She still had study sessions with Spencer which were less stressful than they had been before. Emily had made good progress so that there was no need to keep up the pace. Though, she needed to learn on a steady schedule. Besides that, Emily was working long shifts at The Brew so that she could afford her ticket to Texas for Christmas. Her mother had offered to pay for it but Emily wanted at least to come up with half the costs herself.

One evening Emily and Hanna lay on Hanna's bed talking about the upcoming holidays.

"So what did you get Caleb for Christmas?" Emily asked.

"Oh don't ask! I have exactly zero ideas this year." Hanna said and buried her face in a pillow.

"You're kidding right? You're the master of gift ideas." Emily said and lifted the pillow from Hanna's head.

"We're together for more or less four years now. With all the birthdays, anniversaries and holidays it's hard to come up with new ideas."

"Yah, tell me about it." Emily knew exactly what Hanna was talking about. Emily had always been bad at picking out gifts for Paige. That was why she had always come to Hanna for help and one reason why she was here tonight. Paige and Emily hadn't talked about exchanging gifts on Christmas. They weren't even spending time together on Christmas but Emily had an itch to get something for Paige. The gesture of sending her the shirt was still overwhelming and Emily wanted to show Paige that she was just as important to her as Emily seemed to be to Paige.

"Are you getting something for Paige?"

"I want to but I don't know what to get for her. I was hoping on your creativity."

"How on earth can I keep up with this cute idea of sending you the shirt?" Hanna still was impressed by Paige's romantic side.

"That's what I'm thinking. It was so cute and personal."

"It definitely has to be something personal. Don't just something as less personal as a voucher or something like that."

"Don't you think I know that?" Emily punched Hanna's shoulder. "I need ideas!"

"Let me think…" Hanna said and moved into a pose which looked a lot like The Thinker.

"You're such a dork sometimes!" Emily laughed.

"Do you know if she's getting anything for you?"

"I don't know. We haven't talked about it but I'm not buying anything because she's giving me a present in return. I just want to show her how much she means to me."

"You really love her, don't you?"

"I do."

Hanna didn't come up with an actual and precise idea but Emily was definitely less helpless after her evening with Hanna. Hanna had suggested jewelry but Emily thought that it was not personal enough.

But jewelry kept Emily thinking. So she went into town to see Rosewood's goldsmith the next day after school.

"How can I help you Miss?" The elderly man behind the counter asked.

"I'm looking for a present for a special friend of mine. I was wondering if you're selling stopwatches, Sir."

"I'm sorry, Miss. I usually don't have any on display here but if you want to, I can show you a catalog. It is no problem to order the watch of your choice."

"That would be great."

The man disappeared into a back room and came back with a thick catalog.

"Take as long as you need." He said and handed Emily the catalog.

"Actually, do you think I could take this home to look at it properly? I can bring it back in one or two days."

"No problem, Dear."

"If I would like to have the watch of my choice engraved, is there any chance that you can do that as well?"

"Sure. Just tell me what it should be and consider it done."

"That's perfect, Sir."

"Your friend must be really special to you." The man noted when he saw the smile on Emily's face.

"She is and that's why this present has to be perfect."

"I'm willing to do everything possible to help you. Just tell me which one it should be by the end of the week. That way I can guarantee you that it will be ready before Christmas."

"I think I will be back tomorrow or the day after that."

Emily went home and looked at every watch in the catalog full of excitement. She needed to choose the perfect watch and after that she needed to choose the perfect phrase for the engraving. After an hour of indecisiveness she called Hanna for help. After another hour Emily and Hanna had picked out the perfect stopwatch for Paige. After Hanna left around 7pm Emily made herself something to eat and went back to her laptop to look for the perfect engraving.

The next day, Emily went back to the goldsmith and placed her order. She was assured that the watch would be ready within a week. With a content smile on her face Emily headed back home.


	22. Chapter 22

**I'm sorry, this is one of the shorter chapters but I didn't want to keep you guys waiting. You've all been so nice with all your reviews!**

* * *

Emily and her mother had agreed on doing Christmas in Rosewood because Emily couldn't imagine Christmas without snow or even minus temperatures in general. Christmas in the desert was no option for her. Emily had been able to convince her mother without any major discussion. Pam was happy to be around the old house again. The two of them even decided to decorate the house a little on Christmas Eve although it wasn't the same without Wayne.

"I'm really glad we're doing this at home this year." Emily said but then realized that somehow Fort Hood was Pam's home now. "I'm sorry, Mom. I didn't mean to..."

"It's okay, Honey. This will always be our home." Pam pulled Emily into a brief hug and kissed the top of her head.

"Why do these always end up in a big messy pile?" Emily asked and held up a bunch of chains of lights which looked more like one big chain.

Pam laughed. "I really don't know!"

Together they unknotted the chains and decorated the tree in front of the house and the Christmas tree in the living room. As usual Snowey was standing on the balcony and Pingey and Wingey on the front yard. Besides that, Pam and Emily had decided early on to keep the rest of their decorations in the attic. Christmas was would be small and quiet this year and it was okay for both of them.

* * *

Other than Thanksgiving, it was just the two of them on Christmas Day. Pam had cooked Wayne's favorite dish for dinner in his honor. It was a bit strange and unfamiliar without him but Pam and Emily made the best out of the situation. In the end they were glad to spend some quality mother-daughter-time. Emily had always been her daddy's girl but Pam and Emily had grown a lot closer since her father's death.

After dinner, Emily and her mother exchanged gifts. Pam handed Emily a golden envelope with a smile on her face. Emily carefully opened and it pulled out a black gift card with a beautiful golden dress on it.

"I know it's a little early but it's for your prom dress." Pam explained. "I want you to be the most beautiful girl at prom."

"Mom, you didn't have to…" Emily stuttered and threw her arms around her mother's shoulders. She knew prom dresses were expansive and since Wayne's death they had to be a bit thrifty. Emily had decided that she would come up with the money for her dress on her own by working extra shifts at The Brew.

"No but I wanted to." Pam said and placed a kiss on her daughter's cheek."

Emily released her mother from the hug and wiped away a tear from the corner of her eye.

"Thank you so much, Mom."

Now it was Emily's turn. She picked up her present - a small black jewelry box with a silver ribbon on top – and gave it to her mother.

Pam first untied the ribbon and then opened the box. Inside she found a beautiful silver necklace. Carefully she took the necklace from the box and held it in her hands. Not until then Pam saw the ring on the necklace. Immediately her eyes filled with tears.

"Emmy…" Pam was speechless.

Emily was overwhelmed herself and pulled her mother close. They held each other for a while, saying nothing.

"I don't know what so say, Emmy."

Emily smiled. "I'm glad you like it. I took the ring when I was with you Thanksgiving and I found the perfect necklace to it."

"It's beautiful, Honey."

Emily took the necklace from Pam and placed it carefully around her mother's neck. It looked perfect.

The two of them spent the rest of the evening remembering Wayne Fields. From past Christmas Days, family holidays and Thanksgivings to basically any memory they could think of. It was a long evening and in the end it was what both of them had needed so much.

That night, when Emily lay in bed, she didn't have an emotional breakdown like the one on Thanksgiving although she missed Paige a lot. She hadn't heard from her tonight and she guessed that Paige was busy doing Christmas Eve with her family.

Emily look went to the gift box sitting on her desk – the stopwatch she had bought for Paige. Emily couldn't help but smile and she could have sworn that her heart skipped a beat by the thought of Paige.

 **Merry Christmas! Miss you – Em**

Emily typed quickly and pressed send. She really wished for Paige to be there with her – maybe even right next to her in bed. Emily wasn't thinking about sleeping with Paige. Emily just wanted to lie there in her loving and caring arms. With that thought Emily slowly drifted off to sleep.

Emily slept in the next day. She woke up to the smell of freshly brewed coffee. It was definitely good to have her mother back in the house. Breakfast alone could really suck sometimes. Emily got up and met her mother downstairs in the kitchen.

"Good morning." She said.

"Good morning." Pam said in return and smiled at her daughter. "Coffee?"

"Yes please." Emily answered and sat down at the table. "It's really nice to have someone around for breakfast."

"Breakfast alone can be depressing sometimes, I know what you mean."

"Well, it's something we have to endure, right?" Emily said and took the cup of coffee which was offered to her.

"I'm pretty sure you won't have to have breakfast alone for the rest of your life, Honey." Pam joked.

"Yah, I guess not." Emily laughed. "Thanks for preparing breakfast anyway."

"I know how much you love pancakes and I know that you don't make them just for youself."

"That's because they just taste really bad if I make them!"

Pam and Emily broke into laughter. They both didn't know how many times Pam had tried to teach Emily how to make the perfect pancake. Emily did well when her mother was watching every step in the process. If she tried to do it on her own without her mother watching, Emily usually ended up throwing them out.

"It's really not that hard." Pam was still laughing. "I really thought you got it the last time."

"What can I say? Cooking is just not for me." Emily threw her hands up in surrender.

"I really do hope you and Paige work it out 'cause she knows her way around a kitchen."

"She really does! But no one cooks as well as you."

"That's just some old cliché, isn't it? Moms always cook best."

"In my opinion, that's just the truth."

Emily met up with Aria, Spencer and Hanna for a brief Christmas gathering and gift exchange. The others had family plans for the rest of the day but agreed to meet up on the next day to recap Christmas entirely. Right when Emily said good bye to her friends, she got a text from her mother.

 **Can you come home ASAP?**

"What's wrong?" Hanna asked when she saw the irritated look on Emily's face.

"I don't know. My mom wants me to come home ASAP."

"Did she say why?" Aria asked.

"No." Emily shook her head. She was a bit nervous. Did anything happen?

"Well, you were about to leave anyway, right? Let us know what's going on."

"I will." With that Emily headed to her car and drove home as fast as she could.

Emily saw her mother's car in the driveway. No ambulance or police, Emily noticed relieved. She went inside and couldn't see or hear anybody right away.

"Mom?"

Emily turned right to the living room. This was not what she had expected at all.

"Oh my God!" she couldn't believe her eyes. "You're here!"

Emily ran toward Paige and threw her arms around her. She held Paige pretty tight for fear that she would leave again. There was no way she would let Paige leave any time soon.

"Easy there, Em. I'm not going to disappear the next second."

"I can't believe that you're actually here." Emily released Paige from the hug.

"Merry Christmas!" Paige said with a wide grin on her face.

"I love you." Emily whispered and leaned in for a passionate kiss. Emily didn't think before saying it. Those three words just came out because that was what Emily was feeling right in that moment: Love. Emily could feel Paige smile against her lips.

"What are you smiling about?" Emily joked.

"You know exactly what I'm smiling about." Paige replied. "I love you, too."


	23. Chapter 23

**Happy Easter, everyone! :)**

* * *

After dinner, Emily helped her mother load the dishwasher while Paige was refreshing herself upstairs.

"You knew about this?" Emily asked and handed her mother a dirty plate.

"Of course I did. Paige asked me if I was okay with her staying for a couple of days."

"Thanks, Mom." Emily gave her mother a quick hug.

"Don't mention it, Emmy. I know how much you missed her, especially on Thanksgiving."

"I did miss her a lot and I'm happy to see her for a few days. I know you haven't always approved that I would maybe get together with Paige again. So it means a lot to me that you're making this happen for us."

"By now I know how much you two love each other and I know that Paige is good for you. She's a keeper." Pam said with a meaningful look.

"We're far from making any permanent decisions. There's so much Paige and I need to talk about."

"I know, Emmy. Just enjoy you time with her tonight. There's a lot of time to talk about what you both want and how you two can archive that."

"You're right, Mom." Emily said with a smile. She would definitely enjoy her past Christmas time with Paige. Emily couldn't wait to have some alone time with her loved one.

"So before I let you two have the rest of the evening to yourselves, I want to talk about sleeping arrangements." Pam began when the kitchen was ready.

"Mom, please." She didn't want to have that kind of conversation. She already knew Paige would have to sleep on the sofa and maybe that wasn't even a bad thing. Emily wanted to do this right. She was afraid that everything would get heated up quickly once they were lying close to each other. She was afraid that they would rush into something that would destroy what they had been building carefully in the past few weeks.

"I decided to let you two figure out sleeping arrangements on your own. I'm not making Paige sleep on the sofa against your will. But I want you to be clear of one thing: There's not going to be any funny business under this roof. Understood?"

Emily couldn't believe what she just heard. Was that even her mother standing in front of her? She would have never imagined that her mother would waive the no girl in your bed-policy.

"Really?"

"Yes. I know you missed her and I kind of overheard you saying those magical words to her earlier today. I won't separate you two but if you let me give you one advice: You shouldn't rush into this, Emily. Don't do anything you don't completely want, okay? I trust you both to make the right decision."

"We will. I promise to honor your and dad's rules." Emily gave her mother a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you for trusting me… _us._ "

Emily found Paige in the window seat in her room. Paige was looking out of the window lost in her thoughts. Emily stopped for a moment and looked at Paige. She looked at the most beautiful woman she knew and who made her the luckiest woman in the entire world. Emily smiled.

She walked over to Paige and put an arm around her. Paige let her head rest against Emily's body. Emily softly stroke Paige's hair.

"There you are."

"I wanted to give you and your mom some time."

Emily loved how thoughtful Paige was.

"Guess what my mom just told me."

"She gave you a full speech on me having to sleep on the sofa and how we have to behave under her roof?"

"Well first, it's kind of my roof since I've been living here for myself but that's not the point. She trusts us to figure out sleeping arrangements on our own."

Paige turned her head to look at Emily in disbelief.

"Right? I couldn't believe it myself."

"So what do think?" Paige asked and pulled Emily down by her hand to sit next to her in the window seat.

"About sleeping? I don't know. What do you want?" Emily was afraid to say anything wrong. She really wanted to fall asleep in Paige's arms but she didn't want to rush things at the same time. It was important that they both wanted the same.

"We don't need to rush this, Em. Let's just take things slow, okay? I want to do this right."

"Me too." Emily lay her hand on Paige's arm and smiled. "I mean, I do want to be close to you but I also don't want to do anything we're not ready for."

"We'll figure it out. We don't have to decide anything right now. Let's enjoy the evening. How about I give you your present?" Paige suggested.

"You got me a present? You know that you being here is all I need."

"That's sweet, Em. But I really needed to buy this for you when I saw it in the store." Paige stood up and pulled a small gift from her bag. She handed it to Emily and gave her a quick kiss. "Merry Christmas, Emily."

"Thank you." Emily replied with a smile and started to unwrap the present. She revieled a flat jewelry case. Emily laughend on the inside. _A lot of jewelry is changing hands this christmas._

Carefully Emily opened the case and a beautiful golden necklace with a little and elegant heart on it came to light.

"Oh my God. This is beautiful, Paige!"

"You like it?" Paige asked with a wide grin on her face.

"Of course I do! I love it." Emily closed the case and put it aside. "I love _you_!" She pulled Paige in for a long and passionate kiss.

"I like the sound of that."

"Actually, I got a little something for you as well." Emily picked up the black jewelry box from her desk.

"I was wondering who this was for." Paige joked. "It looks beautiful."

"Wait for what's inside." Emily said and handed her gift to Paige.

Paige pulled out the stopwatch Emily had bought several days ago. Paige eyes widened when she turned the stopwatch around.

 _True love never dies. It only gets stronger with time._

 _Love,_

 _Emily_

"Wow, Em." It was all Paige could say. She was speechless. She noticed that her eyes were filling with tears. This moment right here was perfect. She laid her hand on Emily's cheek.

Paige was looking into Emily's eyes. Those beautiful dark eyes she fell in love with all those years ago and never stopped loving since then. Paige let her hand slip onto Emily's neck and pulled her closer. She stopped just before their lips would meet. Paige's look went from Emily's eyes to her lips and back.

"I love you so much." Paige whispered.

Emily couldn't take it any longer and pressed her lips on Paige's. Paige opened her mouth just enough to grant Emily's tongue entrance and their tongues connected. Emily ran her hands up and down Paige's back while Paige was running one hand through Emily's hair.

Suddenly Emily pulled away. "I think we need to…" She wasn't ready for taking the next step.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get things heated up so fast. I'm just so overwhelmed by your present and the fact that I'm actually here kissing you."

"It's okay, Paige." Emily smiled to assure that her words were true. "Really."

"I guess, it's better if I actually sleep on the sofa tonight." Paige suggested.

Emily nodded weakly. Paige was right. They needed to take things slow. Emily had already taken a huge step by telling Paige that she loved her today. She didn't regret saying it but a make-out session was way too soon.

"Can we just cuddle for a while? Please?" Emily really wanted to be close to Paige for a while and she didn't see any harm in it if they behaved.

Paige was unsure if she trusted herself with Emily's body so close to hers.

"I missed you so much. Please, I just want to be held by you."

Paige stood up and took Emily's hand. She led her to Emily's bed and pulled up the blanket. Emily quickly got under it and Paige joined her. She moved as close to Emily as she could and put her arm around her. Paige closed her eyes. The feeling of Emily's body pressed against her own was the most beautiful feeling. It was pure happiness for Paige.

"Are you okay?" Emily asked.

Paige nodded. "I can't believe how lucky I am. When I left, this was all I wished for but I thought I would never be able to get it."

Emily turned around and faced Paige.

"I could never be without you. I know that now."

Paige brushed away a strand of hair and smiled at Emily.

"You make me very happy, Emily Fields."

"And you make me very happy, Paige McCullers."

Emily turned back around and cuddled back into Paige. She pulled Paige's arm around her and held her hand. She had missed the peace and safety Paige was giving her.

"This is nice" Paige said in a low voice. She had notice that Emily's breath had calmed down. Paige freed her hand from Emily's grip. She ran her finger up and down Emily's arm. Her skin was warm and Paige felt goosebumps where her finger's had touched Emily's skin.

"Mhm" Emily agreed drowsily.

Paige kept caressing Emily's arm until Emily fell asleep peacefully. Paige tried to sneak out of bed without waking Emily.

"Where are you going?" Emily mumbled.

"Turning off the light."

Paige quickly changed into a wide shirt and comfortable pants.

"Hey why do you get to change and I don't?"

Paige laughed. "Because you fell asleep, sleepyhead."

Emily sat up on the bed, her eyes still half-closed. She took off her shirt and the bra underneath her top. Then she got lost of her jeans and put on some short pants she found under the blanket. Paige tried her best not to look at Emily while she changed. She didn't want to make her uncomfortable but Emily didn't seem to mind.

"Are you coming back to bed?" Emily asked when she lay back down.

Paige turned off the light and tiptoed back to bed, careful not to bump into anything. She curled under the blanket and back into position behind Emily who had already fallen asleep again. It didn't take long for Paige to fall asleep herself.

* * *

Paige woke up in the middle of the night. At first she didn't really know where she was and it was hard to get orientation within the darkness. Paige then remembered falling asleep in Emily's bed. That thought made her smile widely. Paige got up and sneaked out of the room. She was thirsty and wanted to get a glass of water in the kitchen. Carefully she tiptoed downstairs, eager not to make a noise. Downstairs she noticed light coming from the kitchen. Paige considered going back to bed to avoid running into Pam but decided otherwise.

"Emmy, is that you?" Pam asked when she heard someone approaching.

Paige entered the kitchen and found Pam sitting at the counter, a glass of water in front of her.

"Oh, it's you, Paige. Couldn't sleep either?"

"I just woke up and wanted to get a glass of water."

Pam was about to get up but Paige insisted on getting it herself.

"So you're sleeping upstairs?" Pam asked without any hidden agenda.

Paige was caught off guard. She felt like she and Emily had sneaked around behind Pam's back.

"Ehm, yes. I mean no. We fell asleep before we really talked about sleeping arrangements. I can totally switch to the sofa but I can assure you that nothing happened."

"No, please. I wasn't implying that. Unless you want to switch to the sofa, I'm fine with you sleeping upstairs." To show Paige that she really was, she laid her hand on Paige's arm. Paige smiled in return.

"So why are you up this late?"

"I guess I'm not used to sleep here in this house anymore. I've been in Texas for so long now."

"I get that. I feel like that when I'm not sleeping at home."

"Good for me. This way I have some company." Pam joked.

Paige and Pam talked for a little while but the tiredness took over and both of them went back to bed.


	24. Chapter 24

Emily woke up early the next morning. It was nice not to wake up alone for a change. Waking up next to Paige, the woman of her dreams, was – on top of everything – perfect. It was still early and there was no need to get up right away. School was off until January 2nd and her mother wouldn't go back to Texas until January 1st.

Emily curled up next to Paige who was lying on her back on the other side of the bed. She laid her hand on Paige's chest and let her head rest on her shoulder. Paige instinctively put her arm around Emily without waking up. Emily listened to Paige's steady and calm heartbeat until she drifted back to sleep.

Emily came back to her bedroom with a tray full of breakfast. She set it on her nightstand and sat down on her side of the bed. Carefully she brushed away Paige's hair so she could place a soft kiss on Paige's cheek. Paige slowly opened her eyes.

"Good morning, sleepyhead. Breakfast is ready." Emily sat on her half of the bed cross-legged and took the tray from her night stand. She placed it on the blanket in front of her and handed Paige a cup of coffee.

Paige sat up and smiled because she couldn't believe she was actually waking up in Emily's bed. "You're so spoiling me, you know that?"

"I just wanted to do something nice for you in return for you coming all the way over here to surprise me."

"You totally made up for that last night." By the look on Emily's face she noticed that her comment must have been a bit suggestive. She quickly added "Don't worry. We were good last night."

Emily laughed when she realized she must have looked at Paige with shock. "For a second I thought…"

"Yeah, I know but we didn't."

Emily took a croissant and handed Paige the plate with the second croissant which Paige accepted with a grateful smile.

"I hope it's okay we spent the night in my bed. You said you wanted to sleep on the sofa." She said and took a bite.

"I didn't want to, I just thought it would probably be better. But I had a really good sleep next to a beautiful woman last night." Paige said and gave Emily a quick kiss. "I met your mom last night in the kitchen."

"You did? I did notice you left the bed."

"I wanted to get some water and she was already downstairs."

Emily liked the fact that Paige was confident and comfortable enough to move around freely in her house without her.

"I hope it wasn't too awkward."

"Once we got past the sleeping situation, everything was great."

"She didn't give you a hard time because we fell asleep in my bed, did she?"

"Oh no, not at all! It was me who made it awkward because I thought she was picking up on it which she totally wasn't. She was fine with us sleeping upstairs."

"I still can't believe she actually allowed it. There was a time when I couldn't even bring a girl up to my room even with the door open."

"Your mom has come a long way since then."

"She did and I like to think that you were a big part in that process. She accepted you right away and you were always welcome at our house. She wasn't like that with Maya."

"I always felt welcome here. On the flight over here after Spencer called me about Wayne, I remembered the first time I met him. I was so nervous but he welcomed me to his family with a hug. I will never forget that."

Emily remembered that evening as well. She had been nervous as well but as the evening had turned out there had been no need to be worried at all. The four of them had spent a nice evening – one of many to follow. Pam was right. Paige was a keeper. She was a perfect fit for their small family.

"Where is your mother by the way?" Paige asked because she started to feel a bit guilty for maybe having Pam to have breakfast on her own while she and Emily enjoyed breakfast in bed.

"She left early to meet with Mrs. Marin, Mrs. Montgomery and Mrs. Hastings. They want to exchange some Christmas gossip I guess."

"It's good that she still has contact to the other mom's."

"It is. She has this sweet circle of friends in Texas. They're really nice, I met them in Thanksgiving. I love that she isn't by herself all the time. It's good that she isn't alone."

"She's lucky to have you as her daughter."

"That's sweet of you to say." Emily said. "So what do you wanna do today?"

"I thought you had plans with the others."

"I do but I can cancel. They will understand. I see them all the time."

"No, please. Don't cancel."

"You can come with me." Emily suggested.

"I don't want to interrupt. I'm fine on my own for a few ours. I go for a run or something."

"Are you sure?"

"Totally."

"You're the best."

"I know I am." Paige said and laughed. She earned a soft punch on her shoulder for that comment.

* * *

The sun was shining and the sky was blue without a cloud. Emily and Paige took a walk around Rosewood. They didn't want to stay inside when the weather was so beautiful but they weren't in the mood for a run. So a walk seemed perfect to them. They started from the Fields' house and walked side by side through the streets of Rosewood. Neither of them was talking and they enjoyed a comfortable silence. Just being with each other on this beautiful morning made them happy. Their hands kept touching from time to time until Paige couldn't take it anymore. The next time her hand bounced against Emily's, Paige took Emily's hand with their fingers interlacing. Emily was taken by surprise. She looked at Paige who gave her a confident smile. She pulled their hands up and pressed a kiss on the back of Emily's hand. In return, Emily leaned over and gave Paige a kiss.

It was unfamiliar to them walking down the street hand in hand again but they soon grew accustomed to it. It didn't felt like the old times, it felt better. In this moment, Paige and Emily felt like they were supposed to be more than ever. They had thought they would be together forever before but now, years later, they knew it was true. It wasn't just a dream anymore.

When Emily and Paige arrived to the park they searched for a bench in the sun. They sat down on a bench with a view on the lake.

"This feels nice." Paige stated and squeezed Emily's hand.

"I can't believe how happy I am right now." Emily said. "You make me happy, Paige."

Emily turned to Paige without letting go of her hand. With her other hand she put a strand of her behind Paige's ear. With her hand on Paige's neck, Emily pulled Paige in for a passionate kiss.

"I am amazed that you're with me." Paige admitted.

"I love you and nothing's ever gonna change that."

"I love you so much, Em."

* * *

Paige was reading on Emily's bed while Emily was meeting with Aria, Hanna and Spencer. She didn't mind to stay at the house while Emily was out with her friends. Paige knew it would be a whole lot different with her around and Paige didn't want to let that happen. She wanted the girls to have their usual uncomplicated and unreserved get-together.

Paige heard the door shut. "Emily? Paige? Are you there?"

Paige got up and went downstairs. "Hey, Emily went over to Spencer's to meet the girls. It's just me. I hope that's okay."

"Of course it is, Paige." Pam assured. "You can feel at home here, you know that."

"Thanks."

"So what are you up to?" Pam asked.

"I was just reading but I wanted to go for a run later."

"Mind if I join you? You can totally say no if you think I will slow you down. I started to run again some weeks ago in Texas but I totally lost track before Christmas."

"I know what you mean. Holidays are always tough on training. Thanksgiving and Christmas always get me out of my training rhythm." Paige said. "I'd like to have some company."

"When do you want go?"

"I can be ready in five if you want to." Paige suggested.

"Fine by me. I just need to switch into some sporty clothes."

So Pam and Paige went for a run together. Paige adapted her pace to Pam's so she wouldn't felt like she was slowing Paige down. For Paige it was nice to take it easy. She had to train hard all the time so it was a nice change to run for fun.

After that Pam and Paige refreshed themselves and ate a salad together.

"What do you think about cooking something nice for Emily tonight?" Paige suggested.

"Sure. Do you have anything in mind?"

"I was counting on your creativity." Paige joked.

"We will get some inspiration while shopping. Did Emily say when she'll be back?"

Paige looked at her watch. "She didn't give me an exact time but I think we have some time left."

The two of them ate up, cleaned the kitchen and went out to do the errands. Paige couldn't help but think that she could totally get used to this.


	25. Chapter 25

Sorry guys that it took so long since the last update. I'm struggling with inspiration but I will definitely will finish this one. I think there will only be a few chapters left. Thanks for still reading!

* * *

"Look Em! It's like a snow storm outside." Paige shouted full of excitement. Emily came running to the living room window where Paige was standing.

"Oh my God, look at all the snowflakes, Paige!" Emily put her arm around Paige and her head on Paige's shoulder so that they could look out of the window together.

"Can you believe we went for a sunny walk yesterday?" Weather had really changed since yesterday. The sun was nowhere to be seen and they sky was cloudy. Huge snowflakes were falling from dark clouds.

"Weather on the East Coast is unpredictable. I bet you miss it sometimes over there in sunny California."

"I don't know. I got really used to the warm weather and it looks pretty uncomfortable outside."

"Yeah, right now but wait until the storm is gone tomorrow and Rosewood turns into this magnificent white wonderland."

"I totally forgot how much you love snow." Paige admitted and gave Emily a kiss.

"Promise me we take a walk in the snow tomorrow!" Emily was excited like a little child.

"I promise."

Suddenly the light went out. Emily and Paige needed a moment to adjust to the darkness.

"What was that?" Emily asked at bit frightened and looked around the room. There was no light to be seen.

"It's probably just the fuse. Where's your fuse box?"

"Behind the curtain next to the back door." Emily replied. "Be careful!"

Paige gave Emily a kiss. "You're cute when you're worried."

Paige took out her phone to have at least a bit light and went to check the fuse box but she couldn't see anything unusual. So she tried the light switch in the room. Nothing happened.

"Em? It's definitely not the fuse box and there's no light in here either. Check the kitchen please."

"Nothing!" Emily shouted after checking the switch in the kitchen. Paige rejoined her in the living room.

"So there's no power at all in this house, is it?" Emily asked, now even more frightened.

"Don't be scared, Em. I'm sure it's nothing. The power's going to be back in no time."

Emily showed her phone display to Paige. "It's nothing? There's no power at the Hasting's house. My mom just texted me. She's staying over there." Emily's phone buzzed again. "Same over at Hanna's and Aria's."

Paige took a look out of the window. The whole street was dark. "So the storm crashed the power system. It's not that bad. We just light some candles and everything will be fine."

Paige made a step toward Emily and put her hands on Emily's hips. "It's romantic."

But Emily wasn't in the mood for romance. "What if it won't be okay? We have to eat something. Shit! All the stuff in the fridge is going to be spoiled."

"I'm sure it won't be right away. What do you have in the freezer?"

"Nothing much. Pizza and ice cream, I think."

"What do you say? Candles and ice cream?" Paige said with a sneaking smile.

"How could I say No to that smile?"

Paige went into the kitchen to take care of the ice cream while Emily went looking for candles to spread around in the living room. Emily found some stumps. She lit them and arranged them on the window sills and on the coffee table. She took out a blanket and put it on the sofa so that she and Paige wouldn't be cold.

"But I'm hopelessly romantic?" Paige joked when she came into the living room with two bowls of ice cream in her hands.

"It just came over me. Don't complain and come here."

Paige did as asked and handed Emily one of the bowls who put it down on the coffee table. She covered herself and Paige with the blanket and pulled up her feet before picking up the bowl.

"See, it's not so bad."

"Not right now. I just hope that the power will be back on soon."

"Don't worry. I will take care of you."

"I love you." Emily loved how caring and protective Paige was in this kind of situations.

* * *

Two hours later the power still wasn't back on and the storm didn't seem to wear off. Emily's excitement over the snow had turned into fear of being snowed by tomorrow. Although Paige and Emily had prepared a salad about an hour ago, Emily wished for something real to eat. There wasn't much in the kitchen which didn't require cooking. Emily just hoped that the storm would wear down by tomorrow morning and she and Paige could have a decent breakfast. At least her mother was safe at the Hasting's house. It was one thing Emily didn't have to worry about.

"You wanna play something?" Paige suggested to keep Emily from thinking about the storm too much.

"I don't know."

"Oh, come on. Humor me. What do you have?"

"Let me think. I definitely have a pack of cards and maybe chess."

"Do you know how to play?" Paige asked. Now that Emily mentioned it, she was in the mood to play chess.

"Chess? My father taught me when I was about 10 years old but I haven't played in a long time. What about you?"

"My grandpa taught me how to play when I was little. I used to have a game with him now and then and after he died my father took his spot. I became really good because I wanted to impress him."

"There is no way that I'm playing against you, you know that right?"

"You don't have to play _against_ me. Play _with_ me." Paige tried to convince Emily.

"Fine but just one round!"

One round turned into three and it didn't turn out as bad as Emily had predicted. She actually beat Paige in the last round and was bragging about it. Paige let Emily have her fun because she knew that was what she needed.

"We should do this more often."

"Playing chess? Oh yes! We can organize small tournaments with friends and family!"

"I don't know about that!" Paige laughed. "I meant this." She pointed around the room with her finger." Taking time for ourselves. Without all the daily stress and diversion of smart phones and stuff."

"You're right. This is actually kind of nice despite the occasion." Emily kissed Paige passionately.

"What was that for?"

"For taking care of everything tonight. I don't know what I would've done without you."

"Don't mention it. I had a great time with you tonight."

"I did too but I think I need to get some sleep." Emily admitted.

"So we call it a night. Where do you want me to sleep?" Paige had to ask since they accidently fell asleep in Emily's bed last night. She hoped that Emily wanted to have her there tonight as well.

"In my bed, Silly!" Emily said. "Well, if you want to of course."

"Of course I do." Paige stood up and pulled Emily up from the sofa. She took her in for a brief hug before leading Emily upstairs holding her hand. Paige offered to give Emily some privacy to change but Emily declined. Paige did her best not to stare while Emily took off first her shirt and then her pants to change into her sleeping clothes. She then pulled out her bra from under her shirt.

"You like what you see?" Emily said when she caught Paige's gaze.

"Oh shit, Em. I didn't mean to!" Paige stuttered.

"Don't be silly. There's nothing you haven't seen already."

"I know but…"Paige tried to find an explanation.

"No but. You're my girlfriend and allowed to look at me like that!"

"I am? You're girlfriend, I mean." Paige was surprised because she and Emily hadn't talked about it since they had started seeing each other again.

"If you want to be…"

"I do! I do!" Paige jumped from the window seat and pulled Emily into a hug and gave her a long kiss. "I love you."

"I love you, too." Emily replied.

Paige changed into more comfortable clothes as well. They both took their turn in the bathroom and were soon cuddling underneath the blanket. Paige was the big spoon and held Emily close to her body. Emily, her _girlfriend_. Paige's heart jumped every time she thought about it. She didn't know how the two of them would actually make their relationship work with 3000 miles between them but it didn't matter right now. All that mattered was her and Emily being together as girlfriends in this moment.

"Paige?"

"Yes?"

"I'm happy."

"I'm happy, too." Paige placed a kiss on Emily's shoulder.

The two of them enjoyed the warm and secure feeling of holding each other in silence until the both fell asleep eventually.

* * *

Paige woke up first the next and decided to let Emily sleep. She sneaked from underneath the blanket and out of the room. On her way out she grabbed her hoodie. In the kitchen she found a major puddle of water in front of the fridge. The ice in the freezer must have melted when the power had shut down. Paige wiped up the water with a rag she found under the sink. She picked up on the clock on the oven. So the power was back on at least, Paige thought. Emily would be relieved. A look out of the windowed told Paige that Emily would be excited as well. Rosewood had indeed turned into a winter wonderland.

"Good morning." Paige heard from behind her and turned around.

"Good morning." Paige replied with a smile. "Look outside."

Emily went to the window and pulled away the curtain. "Oh my god! It's perfect. I wanna go outside, like right now."

"No, no, no. I know you can't wait but let me make you breakfast, okay? We haven't eaten anything real since yesterday and you know how they say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day."

"Fine but you better make it fast." Emily said and ran upstairs to take a shower. She didn't want to waste any second of her day in her winter wonderland.

Paige laughed and got herself to work. She made French toast and scrambled eggs for the two of them. After breakfast Paige took a quick shower. She didn't want to keep Emily waiting any longer. Emily left a brief note for her mother in case she would come home before her and Paige.

Emily was like a little child once she was outside. She made snow angles on some front yards or left a trail of footprints by walking in circles in the untouched snow. Paige loved that Emily was being that happy. She deserved it.

Suddenly a snowball smashed against Paige's back. She turned around and saw Emily already forming a new snow ball.

"Oh, you didn't!" Paige shouted and looked for cover behind a nearby tree. She took some snow from the ground and carefully formed a snowball herself. There was no way she would have Emily have this win without a fight.

The snowball fight lasted for a long while until Paige finally gave in and let Emily win. She pulled out a handkerchief and waved it around in the air. "Surrender!"

"Fine! I spare you the bloody defeat." Emily joked and pulled Paige into a hug. "Thanks for doing this with me. It wouldn't be the same without you."

"Let's get back. I'm craving for some hot chocolate!" Paige said and Emily linked arms with her for their way back home.


	26. Chapter 26

I'm sorry that it's taking me forever to write a new chapter. I'm writing examens in a few weeks and I'm sitting at my desk all day. I hope you're still reading and enjoying my story!

I think there will be 2 or 3 chapters left in this story and I'm trying to finish it before the exam.

* * *

Soon it was time for Paige to leave. School would start on Monday for both Emily and Paige although they both didn't want it to. They had been spending some quality time together and had gotten used to falling asleep and waking up next to the other. It was something they had not had in the past when Paige had been living in Rosewood due to Pam's strict house rules. It had not been hard to get comfortable with their new living situation and both Emily and Paige had come to see what living together one day could be like.

New Year's Eve had been nice and quiet at Spencer's house with all the girls and their boyfriends. Spencer's parents had left for London visiting Spencer's sister Melissa on New Year's Eve, so the girls (and boys) had had the house all to themselves.

They had been cooking a fancy five-course-dinner together which they all had enjoyed very much. Afterwards they had played some games to kill the time 'til midnight. In Spencer's yard they all had watched the fireworks. All of them knew that it was probably the last year they would be able to spend New Year's Eve together. Soon they would be all over the country attending colleges. Only god knew, if and when all of them would be in one place again. Emily and Paige had been in bed by 2am.

"I want you to stay." Emily said in a sad voice on New Year's Day morning in bed. She was lying on her side with her hand supporting her head so that she could face Paige. Her other hand was resting on Paige's belly. Paige was on her back looking at the ceiling.

Both Emily and Paige were trying to enjoy every second they had left with each other. But it was hard not to think about the fact that Paige's flight leaving in two hours. They both weren't too happy about it but tried not to let it ruin everything.

"Believe me, staying is the only thing I want right now" Paige said and turned to Emily. She brushed away Emily's hair. "Don't worry, okay? Nothing will change. We will talk on the phone, on Skype and maybe you can come over to California some time. You will see, time will pass and soon you're in college and we will be able to see each other more often."

"I don't know, Paige." Emily was skeptical. She wasn't made to be in a long distance relationship. She knew she needed some alone time with her girlfriend from time to time. She needed to hug and kiss her. Phone calls and Skype couldn't do that.

"Tell me. Why would anything change? We just put a label on our relationship, nothing more. We will still be hearing from each other all the time."

"So that's what it is… A label…"

"Em, of course it's not just that but I committed to you not just a few days ago when we decided to be girlfriends again. I have been in love with you for a really long time now and I don't intend for that to change. I did commit to you a long time ago and I'm not taking it back. I want to be with you – like forever."

"That's incredibly cute for you to say." Emily gave Paige a kiss. "But now that I've been with you for the last couple of days, I don't know how I can be on my own, especially sleeping alone in this huge bed." Emily had gotten used to falling asleep in Paige's arms and waking up with a huge smile on her face because the first thing she saw in the morning was her beautiful girlfriend.

"I know, it's not going to be easy but we can make it, right?" Paige was confident but she wasn't completely free of any doubts. She needed to hear it from Emily as well. She needed to know that Emily was in this as much as she was.

"I think so."

"Come on, Em."

Emily thought about it for a second and then nodded. Suddenly she was full of excitement. "We're gonna make it. This time it's different. We're more mature now, right? We know what we want. What's 3000 miles?!"

Emily moved a bit closer to Paige and laid her hand on Paige's soft cheek.

"I love you so much." Paige said before Emily could say anything. Emily herself replied with a passionate kiss on Paige's lips. She let her hand run through Paige's hair and deepened the kiss. Paige laid her hand on Emily's back and pulled her even closer to her. While kissing Emily passionately Paige moved her hand underneath Emily's shirt so that she could fondle the skin on Emily's back. Emily started to feel a heat between her thighs and she knew that if they didn't stop right away, she wouldn't be able to anymore in a few minutes.

"Paige…" Emily whispered when Paige was staring to kiss Emily's neck. "Paige."

"I know. I'm sorry." Paige apologized and moved away from Emily a little.

"Don't be. You know I want to, right? I just want our first time since we got back together to be perfect, you know? I want us to have enough time when we're doing it. We shouldn't do it in a hurry."

"I understand. I want that too and I want to cuddle afterwards until I fall asleep in your arms." Paige gave Emily a brief and innocent kiss.

"I love you, Paige."

Not long after that, Paige was saying good-bye to Pam on the front porch. Pam seemed genuinely sad about Paige leaving. She liked having Paige in the house. She really wished for their relationship to work out this time. Pam was looking forward to the day she could welcome Paige to family as her daughter-in-law.

"Come back soon, will you?"

"If you let me." Paige joked. She knew Pam wanted her to visit Rosewood and stay in the Fields' house. Maybe they would be able to visit Pam in Texas soon.

"It's good to have you here." Pam gave Paige a hug. "You're always welcome. Have a nice flight, Paige."

Emily took Paige to the airport but this time they were talking about everything they had done the last few days. Christmas, New Year's Eve, the power breakdown and their workouts in the park… They wanted to remember it all, every second of the time they had spent together in the last couple of days. Paige's hand was resting on Emily's leg for the whole drive. She didn't dare to pull away because she knew they wouldn't be able to touch Emily soon enough.

"I'm going to miss you." Emily said when it was time for Paige to pass security. She tried hard not to cry in front of Paige. She didn't want Paige to sit on the plane for the next few hours with the image of Emily crying in her head.

"I'm gonna miss you too." Paige pulled Emily into her arms and held her tight. "This is not good-bye, it's just "see you soon", okay?

"I had a great time with you the last few days in Rosewood. I see if I can come over there soon, okay?"

"I would love that." Paige pulled away but let her hand rest on Emily's cheek. "I really have to go now."

Emily nodded. "Okay, go." Emily kissed Paige one last time. "I love you."

"I love you too."

Emily watched Paige leave. Of course she was sad that they would be able to see each other for a while but there was definitely hope. She had the feeling that this time their relationship would last. They would be able to get past all this distance thing and they would come on out stronger. Maybe after college they would even get married. Emily definitely wanted to be married to Paige someday.

* * *

On the plane, Paige had the seat next to the window. Next to her was an old couple which had fallen asleep right after the take off. Paige thought that they had to be around 80 years old. She admired them and wished for her to be happily married when she was this old. Hopefully she would be married to Emily. Paige could definitely picture her and Emily to be asleep on a plane together in 60 years. Paige closed her eyes and tried to get some sleep as well. She was still exhausted from New Year's Eve.

When Paige woke up again 2 hours later, she remembered the present Emily had given her before they had left the house. Emily had made her promise that she wouldn't open the present before she was on the plane. Paige got up to get her hand baggage where she kept the present. She had to ask the old couple to let her through to the aisle from where she would be able to pick up her bag.

"Thank you." Paige said to the old woman next to her when she was bag in her seat holding Emily's present.

"Is it your birthday, Dear?" The woman asked.

"Oh, no, Ma'am. It's from a friend I visited for the last couple of days." Paige knew better than to blurt out that she got the present from her girlfriend. Paige had made the experience that especially old people didn't approve of her "lifestyle".

"That's very nice of her."

Paige thought that the conversation came to an end and started to unwrap the present. Emily had printed a photo of her and Paige and had put it in a nice frame. She remembered the day they had taken the picture. It had not been a special occasion. Emily and Paige had just lain on Emily's bed one evening and had been talking about school and college and what was in front of them. It had felt like the old days when the two of them could spend hours together without getting tired of talking to the other about everything and nothing. Emily had wanted to capture the moment in a picture. A picture Paige was looking at right now. Paige also found a small card: "This way you can fall asleep next to me every night." Emily had drawn a small heart underneath the text. Paige had to wipe away a single tear. She was moved by Emily's gesture.

Paige was handed a tissue. She looked up and found the old woman smiling at her.

"She's very special to you, isn't she?"

Paige decided to be honest. "She's my girlfriend." Paige waited for the unmistakable disapproving reaction she was expecting but there was none. So she continued, although she didn't really know why she was telling all that personal stuff to a stranger.

"Emily and I, we just got back together after a few months apart. I'm living in California and she in a small town near Philly."

"Oh Dear, that's a long distance for a relationship." The woman said and seemed to be truly moved by Paige's story. "I'm Margret by the way and that's my husband Walter."

"Paige." Paige replied with a smile.

"Nice to meet you, Paige."

The two of them kept talking for a while and the flight seemed to pass more quickly this way. Margret and Walter had been visiting their son Mitchell, his husband Eric and their two children Samantha and Ryan in Philadelphia over the holidays. Paige then understood why Margret hadn't shown any disapproval over her relationship to Emily. Walter followed their conversation and threw in a comment from time to time but he was quiet mostly.

After landing and picking up the luggage, Margret gave Paige their address and phone number and Paige promised that she and maybe Emily would visit the next time she was in Rosewood.


	27. Chapter 27

Before Emily knew it, she was alone again. It was strange at first because since before Christmas she had been around at least one person her every day. It was hard for Emily to get used to it again. With school back on, she had a daily schedule at least but especially the evenings and nights were difficult to handle. Eating and sleeping alone wasn't something Emily wanted to get used to. Her friends did her best to keep Emily busy the first few days. On top of that, Emily and Spencer kept their learning sessions alive although Emily was already back on track again. Both of them had learned that they were benefitting from those sessions.

Paige felt the same. She was kind of surprised that a human being was able to get used to things in such a short time. Paige had the advantage of swim practice keeping her mind of missing Emily too much. Paige was training more than ever just to keep her mind busy which had a pretty good effect on her times. She knew it was a warm up for Stanford.

Emily and Paige were talking on regular basis. They were texting whenever they had a minute of free time and something to tell the other – how stupid or insignificant it may was. They were happy about everything the other one was telling. Phone calls or Skype sessions usually took place two or three times a week. On weekends they were talking for hours when they lost track of time. It was hard with time difference but somehow they managed. It was all about love.

Graduation came faster than anticipated and Emily was glad that all the studying was over for now. Of course Pam was with her on Graduation Day but on this day she especially missed her dad. They had talked about Graduation many times and Emily always knew how proud her dad would be to watch her graduate although it was only High school.

After Graduation prom was about to take place. Of course Paige and Emil had been talking about it. They had already been talking about it when Paige had still been living in Rosewood. Now things were different and going to prom together seemed to be more complicated. A few weeks before prom, Emily carefully had asked Paige if she wanted to come and offered to fly over to California to attend prom with Paige at her school. Unfortunately, Paige's prom was about to take place the same night as Emily's. So they decided that it would be best if each of them was attending their own prom.

* * *

The girls were at The Brew discussing eagerly. Prom was right around the corner and Aria still had no idea who she was gonna go with. Ezra and Aria were fighting all the time in the last few weeks and she didn't want to be fighting on prom night. Instead, Aria would rather go alone and sit at the bar all night. Well Aria would go alone because her friends would go as well, but Aria knew they all had someone to go with. Hanna had Caleb and Spencer had Toby.

"You sure you don't want to go with Ezra, Aria? You can stop fighting for one night and enjoy yourself. I don't want you to regret it later." Spencer asked calmly. She tried to make a rational point.

"I don't know. Honestly." Emily said instead of Aria. "Maybe Aria is right. I would rather go alone instead of taking the risk of prom night being ruined by fighting all night."

"I think Em is right." Hanna agreed. "And you're not going alone. We all are gonna be there with you. I'll even let you have Caleb for a dance."

The girls laughed. "That is so generous of you, Han." Aria replied.

"So is Paige coming?" Spencer asked in Emily's direction.

"No, I asked her but unfortunately they have prom on the same night." Emily and Paige had always dreamed about going to prom together. Dressing up, Emily in a beautiful dress and Paige in a fancy suit. They had been looking through magazines together and picked out matching outfits years ago. It was a shame that they weren't able to actually wear them.

"No, really?" Hanna asked sadly. She wanted her best friend to have a perfect prom night with the love of her life since they had gotten back together a few months ago.

Emily nodded.

"So, I have an idea…" Aria began. "What about we'll be each other's date, Em?"

Emily laughed and nodded. "I like your thinking!"

Emily looked into the mirror like she had done every 5 minutes since she had been getting ready. She was wearing a classy black and white dress which showed just the right amount of her décolleté. She wanted to look perfect for this special night. It was the night she had been looking forward to since she had begun High school. Now school was finally over and real life was about to start. She couldn't wait to start college and take the next step with Paige.

"Emmy!" Pam called from the hallway.

"I'll be right there!" One final look into the mirror told Emily that she looked really great tonight. She was proud of herself. Before leaving the room, Emily stopped in front of her night stand. She picked up the picture of her dad and mom. She let her thumb run over her dad's image. Emily wished that he could be here tonight to see his little girl going off to prom. Emily put down the picture because her eyes started to fill with tears and she didn't want to get her make up all messed up.

"You look beautiful, Emmy." Pam said when Emily entered the living room where Pam and Aria were waiting.

"Thanks, Mom."

Emily turned to Aria and gave her a quick hug. Aria was wearing a dark red dress and she looked truly beautiful.

"Nice dress, Aria."

"Thanks. I made some changes to my original dress. I think it didn't turn out so bad, does it?"

"You did a really great job."

"Are you ready to go?" Pam asked. She had offered to drive the girls so that none of them would have to drive by herself.

"Shall we?" Emily asked and offered Aria to link arms with her.

"Let's do this!" Aria replied in excitement. She was glad she hadn't brought Ezra. It would definitely be great with Emily tonight.

* * *

Aria and Emily were sitting at the bar, facing the dancefloor. They had a non-alcoholic cocktail in their hands and watched all the couples dancing on the dancefloor. Toby was holding Spencer closely. They were staring into each other's eyes while moving to the slow song the band was performing. Next to them Emily and Aria spotted Hanna and Caleb in a similar dancing move.

"They're a perfect couple, don't you think?" Emily noted and pointed in their friends' direction.

"They look so happy and so in love. They really do." Aria agreed. There was a bit of sadness in her voice. She wished she could have that with Ezra but deep down she knew it was only a matter of time until they would break up.

"They really do." Emily agreed. "And you stop thinking about Ezra. I'm your date tonight."

Emily stood up and took the drink from Aria's hand. She put down the two glasses and held out her hand.

"What are you up to, Em?"

"We're dancing! You need to stop thinking about Ezra and I'm making you do that."

Emily and Aria were dancing although it wasn't as romantically as the others. They both were happy that they were each other's date. That was what friends were for, Emily thought. But her mind wandered off to a ballroom about 3000 miles away…

"Stop thinking about Paige and don't you dare to say that you didn't. I can see it all over your face, Em."

"You're kidding right?"

"No." Aria laughed. "Your eyes start to shine every time you think or talk about Paige.

"I don't believe you."

"You look into a mirror next time." Aria joked.

"Yah, okay. You got me" Emily admitted.

"Don't go there, Em, okay? Not tonight. I know it's hard and it is for me too. But you know, you two have each other. It's just one night."

The song ended and the girls met the others at the bar. They each ordered a new cocktail and were gossiping. Especially Hanna was having fun talking about all the dresses which weren't even close as pretty as hers.

In the middle of the conversation Spencer suddenly started to smile and poked Toby in the ribs. With her head she told him to look at the entrance. Hanna picked up on it and looked as well. Paige was standing in the door, looking for Emily or one of her friends.

"Excuse me for a second. This drink is killing me." Hanna said and shook her glass. Emily had no clue that she wasn't going to the bathroom but welcoming Paige.

A few moments later, Emily turned around because all the smiling was getting really suspicious. Emily couldn't believe her eyes. Her beautiful girlfriend was walking up to her. For a second she thought she was hallucinating but all of her friends seemed to see Paige as well.

"If you don't close your mouth, you'll start to drool." Aria whispered into Emily's ear. Emily quickly closed her mouth but she couldn't take her eyes off of Paige. She looked so damn beautiful in her fancy black suit and her white tie. Her wavy auburn fell on her shoulders. Emily was stunned and couldn't believe how lucky she was.

"You're here." Emily whispered.

"I'm here." Paige said and gave Emily a long kiss to greet her. The others gave them some space

"What about your prom?" Emily asked confused.

"This is my prom." Paige replied with a smile. "I don't care if it's not the school I graduate from. The only important thing is that we go to prom together."

Emily couldn't believe how cute Paige was. She would've never guessed to actually be here with Paige tonight.

"How did you even get in here?"

"Well, I had some convincing to do but it worked."

"Dance with me?" Emily held out her hand and let Paige to the dancefloor. Emily looked at Aria to check if she would be okay but she was too busy chatting with the others to notice Emily was looking over.

They immediately hit it off on the dancefloor. Without hesitation they found their rhythm. Emily's hands where on Paige's neck while Paige's hands rested on Emily's waist. They slowly moved to Shirley Bassey's " _Where do I begin_ ".

 _Where do I begin?  
To tell the story of how great a love can be  
The sweet love story that is older than the sea  
The simple truth about the love he brings to me  
Where do I start?_

"You look beautiful, Em."

"Well, you don't look so bad yourself." There was a huge smile on Emily's lips now. "You picked out the suit we talked about."

"I bought it when you asked me to come a couple of weeks ago."

"You planned this all along? Does my mom know?"

A smile gave Paige away and Emily couldn't blame her. This was just too perfect. Emily let her hands run down on Paige's arms while Paige was still holding Emily on her waist. Emily moved her hands over Paige's side to her back. They slowly moved to the song and were lost completely in each other's eyes. Paige's hand found Emily's while she kept her other hand on Emily's back. Paige could look forever into Emily's dark eyes. She couldn't get enough of the love she was seeing in those beautiful eyes.

Emily put one hand on Paige's neck and pulled her softly into a passionate kiss. They kept kissing and totally forgot where they were. The only thing that mattered in that moment was both of them dancing closely.

"I love you." Emily whispered into Paige's ear after they lips had parted.

* * *

 **A/N: Thanks for reading. Please review! :) I have to announce that next chapter will be the last one :(  
**


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